US and Filipino troops fired missiles and artillery at an imaginary "invasion" force during war games on the Philippines' northern coast Monday, days after their governments objected to China's "dangerous" actions in regional waters. Thousands of troops are conducting land, sea and air manoeuvres against a backdrop of increased confrontations between Chinese and Filipino vessels around shoals in the South China Sea.
US troops massed at a strip of sand dunes on Luzon island's northwest coast -- around 400 kilometres (249 miles) south of Taiwan -- let loose more than 50 live 155mm howitzer rounds at floating targets about five kilometres off the coast. Filipine troops followed up by firing rockets aimed at wearing down the attackers, before the two forces finished the job with machine guns, Javelin missiles and more artillery rounds.
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