CARAT 2007

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 31 May) - The United States Navy's USS Harpers Ferry, a 16,500-ton amphibious warfare ship, and two 4,000-ton frigates, the USS Ford and USS Jarrett, and three smaller Filipino ships are participating in the ten-day war games called CARAT 2007 or Cooperation Afloat Readiness And Training. Some 2,000 troops are involved in the training that begins Thursday, 31 May 2007 off the Sulu Archipelago where local troops are battling members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiya in the Sulu Archipelago. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)