Philippine forces deliver supplies, personnel to South China Sea shoal

Manila: Filipino forces transported food, fuel and new personnel Friday to a Philippine territorial outpost in a fiercely disputed shoal in the South

China Sea despite tensions flaring recently at the atoll after China staged water cannon drills and deployed additional coast guard and suspected militia vessels, two Philippine officials said.

Two Philippine security officials told The Associated Press that a new Armed Forces of the Philippines delivery of supplies and navy and marine personnel to the Second Thomas Shoal was successfully “completed without any untoward incident” Friday.

The officials did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.

One of the officials said the delivery was postponed for a few weeks to ensure its security and success.

Chinese officials did not immediately issue a statement. They have previously claimed the fishing atoll and virtually the entire South China Sea in the past and have repeatedly demanded the Philippines pull a grounded warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, from the Second Thomas Shoal.

The Philippine military has carried out at least nine such deliveries of supplies and new batches of navy and marine personnel without incident

to the long-grounded ship, the BRP Sierra Madre. Confrontations were averted after Beijing and Manila signing a temporary nonaggression deal in July 2024 to prevent new confrontations at the fishing atoll.