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Associated Press

A mayor on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s wanted list for alleged drugs links was killed along with nine of his guards in a shoot-out on Friday, police said, as a new phase of a bloody narcotics crackdown zeroed in on high-profile targets.
The 10 men succumbed to their wounds en route to hospital, police said, having opened fire on officers who tried to stop their two vehicles at a checkpoint in Duterte’s troubled home province of Mindanao before dawn.
“It was a legitimate police operation,” said Bernard Tayong of the North Cotabato police office, adding that no officers were hurt but a police vehicle was riddled with bullets. “We have information the mayor and his men were transporting drugs so we tried to intercept them but they chose to shoot it out.”
Watch: A close-up view of Duterte’s war on drugs


The killing of Samsudin Dimaukom, a powerful mayor, took place far from his predominantly Muslim town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.
It came as police shift tactics in the controversial war on drugs by focusing on politicians, government officials, celebrities and high-ranking army and police suspected of involvement in the trade.
The new plan, called “Project Double Barrel Alpha”, was reported on Monday and aims to increase arrests and reduce the bloodshed in a campaign that has claimed more than 2,300 lives since Duterte took office on June 30.
Duterte won a May election on the promises of killing criminals and campaigned under the logo of a clenched fist.
Duterte returned from a visit to Japan late on Thursday and during a news conference waved a thick book he said contained names of officials suspected of drug links. The book contains about 3,000 names.
We have information the mayor and his men were transporting drugs so we tried to intercept them but they chose to shoot it out
Bernard Tayong, North Cotabato police
“I do not want to make this public because it will just make the Filipino cry,” he said.
Of those killed in the anti-drugs campaign, more than 1,600 died during police operations, a toll that has drawn international concern about extrajudicial killings.
Duterte has fiercely defended the campaign and has repeatedly lashed out at his critics.
A recent poll showed public unease over the crackdown, with 94 per cent of respondents saying it was important that police take suspects alive.
Police investigators said seven guns, including an Armalite rifle and 13 small packs of suspected methamphetamines were recovered from the mayor’s vehicle after Friday’s firefight.
The mayor’s wife, who is also the town’s vice mayor, is also on Duterte’s wanted list.
National police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said on Thursday the drugs war had been expanded to go beyond poorer areas where low-level peddlers operate. New targets were transport networks, show business circles, nightclubs and wealthier neighbourhoods to root out drugs like cocaine and ecstasy.
Carlos denied there was a deliberate sanctioning of extrajudicial killings. He said fatalities occurred when suspects refused to surrender and police were keen to avoid violence.
“That’s why we are shifting to Alpha,” he added.
Since late June, 750,000 drug users had surrendered, some 30,000 suspects were arrested. Of the “high value” targets, 201 had surrendered, 66 were arrested and 14 were killed.
He said 150,000 police had been drug tested and 164 gave positive results and would be dismissed.
Police would soon receive a large consignment of body armour, Carlos said, adding instructions were being given “to make sure you are not giving [drug suspects] the chance to put your lives in danger”.


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Rodrigo Duterte

Drug purge claims official: Filipino mayor among 10 dead following shoot-out with anti-narcotics police

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shows the list of government, military and police officials allegedly involved in the drug trade. Photo: Reuters

Inside Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug purge: how local residents work with Philippine police to compile ‘hit lists’

Police officers stand guard near a crime scene where a suspected drug addict was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. Photo: Reuters

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, gestures as he poses with Philippine Army officers during his visit to the Army headquarters in suburban Taguig city, east of Manila, Philippines as U.S. and Philippine forces opened their first large scale combat exercises. An independent poll released Thursday, Oct. 6, showed that more than three-quarters of Filipinos are satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte, even though he is under fire internationally for his deadly crackdown on suspected drug dealers and users. The survey, conducted by Social Weather Stations from Sept. 24 to Sept. 27 and published Thursday. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATHRescue workers carry a man into an ambulance after he was shot by unidentified gunmen in metro Manila, Philippines, September 17, 2016. The man was later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to local media reports. Picture taken September 17, 2016. To match Special Report PHILIPPINES-DUTERTE/HITLISTS REUTERS/Ezra Acayan

A motorcyclist drives past an anti-drugs poster outside a town hall in Pasig city, metro Manila, Philippines September 15, 2016. Picture taken September 15, 2016. To match Special Report PHILIPPINES-DUTERTE/HITLISTS REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Dinah Guevarra, a village chief, leads the pledging of a new life of a married couple who are self-confessed drug users and had voluntarily surrendered to the police's "Operation Tokhang (approach and talk)" in Pasig city, metro Manila, Philippines September 15, 2016. Picture taken September 15, 2016. To match Special Report PHILIPPINES-DUTERTE/HITLISTS REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Zendey Celestino views the body of her husband Neptali Celestino, who was killed in a police anti-drugs operation in Pasig city, metro Manila, Philippines September 15, 2016. Picture taken September 15, 2016. To match Special Report PHILIPPINES-DUTERTE/HITLISTS REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

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President Duterte has identified more than 150 officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs, ordering them to surrender immediately or be hunted down
