Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has continued his tirade against the United States, suggesting that American troops should leave country's troubled south.

Duterte warned on Monday that the presence of U.S. troops in the island of Mindanao is causing the situation to deteriorate further. He suggested that the American troops must leave the troubled region.

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"The US Special Forces, they have to go. They have to leave Mindanao. There are many (Americans) there. I just could not say it at the ASEAN summit in Laos because I don't want a rift with America," Duterte said during an official ceremony at Presidential Palace in Manila. "The situation in Mindanao will be more volatile. If they are seen there, they will really be killed."

Duterte holds the U.S. responsible for the rise of Islamic terrorist groups in the Mindanao, which is the second largest island in the Philippines. He warned American soldiers that they remain on top of the Islamic extremists' list of targets in the region.

The Philippines presidential palace has tried to downplay Duterte's remarks. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella on Tuesday said that President Rodrigo Duterte's remarks regarding U.S. troop withdrawal from southern Philippines is not a policy statement.

"Those statements are not policies set in stone. It's not a policy yet...Nobody acted on it yet. It serves as a notice," Abella said at a regular press briefing in Manila. "We're not turning back on anybody. We are just charting an independent course."

Tagschina, US, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Mindanao