Philippine anti-narcotics officers gunned down a town mayor and nine of his men in a clash in one of the bloodiest operations since President Rodrigo Duterte launched a crackdown on illegal drugs.
Mayor of Saudi Ampatuan was on a list of people
identified by President Duterte as being involved in the drug trade.
Samsudin Dimaukom, mayor of the southern town of
Saudi Ampatuan, was one of more than 150 local government officials, judges and
police identified by Duterte earlier this year as being involved in the illegal
drug trade.
He ordered them to surrender immediately or be hunted
down.
The mayor had turned himself in to police but denied
he was involved in the illegal drug trade. He had told the media that he was
fighting illegal drugs himself and supported Duterte's crackdown. Ahead of the
shootout on Friday, police received information that Dimaukom's group was
planning to transport a "huge" amount of methamphetamine from Davao
city, Duterte's hometown, to Maguindanao province, where Saudi Ampatuan is
located.
Police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo said
Dimaukom and his security personnel opened fire after anti-narcotics police
stopped their vehicles at a checkpoint on suspicion they were transporting
illegal drugs.
Officers returned fire, killing the men in the town
of Makilala, about 950 kilometres south of the capital Manila.
"Suspects [were] heavily armed and fired upon
the law enforcers, which prompted them to fire back," Galgo said. "After
he and his wife turned themselves to the police, their compound was searched
and no drugs were found," he said. "But significantly at that time,
because he was suspected and on the list, his official police and military
security detail were taken away."
Duterte's deadly crime war has claimed more than
3,800 lives and drawn criticism from the US, the UN and international rights
groups who have accused police of summarily executing suspects.
Duterte, who swept to power in May elections on a
pledge to eradicate drugs, has described his critics as "fools" and
said he is not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals. After returning from a trip to Japan late Thursday,
he threatened to step up police killings of drug suspects.
In September, the EU called on the Philippine
government to put an end to the killings of drug suspects.
Duterte replied by unleashing a series of expletives
against the bloc.
"I have read the condemnation of the European
Union. I'm telling them, 'F**k you,'" Duterte said in a mix of Tagalog and
English, before describing the EU as hypocrites trying to "atone" for
guilt over its members occupying other countries in the past.
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