The US State Department halted the planned sale of some 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines’ national police after Senator Ben Cardin said he would oppose it.
Aides said Cardin, the top Democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons given concerns about human rights violations in the Philippines. The Philippine police and government said alternative suppliers would be found.
The relationship between the United States and the Philippines has been complicated lately by President Rodrigo Duterte’s angry reaction to criticism from Washington of his violent battle to rid the country of illegal drugs. More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes in connection with the anti-narcotics campaign.
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