MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine officials say nine drug suspects have been killed and 117 others have been arrested in police-led raids in a central province, as the government pressed a massive crackdown that has left more than 4,800 suspects dead.

Regional police Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas says nine drug suspects were killed separately in gunbattles with law enforcers in dozens of coordinated raids from Wednesday to Thursday noon in central Cebu province. Nearly 1,000 packets of methamphetamine, a banned stimulant, and 78 firearms were seized in the raids.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said his war on drug will be "as relentless and chilling" as when he launched it after taking office in 2016 despite facing two complaints for mass murder before the International Criminal Court and criticism from Western governments and U.N. watchdogs. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine police official says law enforcers have killed 13 drug suspects and arrested more than 100 suspected dealers and criminals in 24 hours of raids in a province with a record of bloody crackdowns.

Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat Jr. says the 13 drug suspects were killed Wednesday in gunbattles with police in a city and eight towns in Bulacan province just north of Manila. More than 70 raids were launched by the police in Bulacan that day, leading to the arrests of 109 people, including 92 suspected drug dealers and users.

The latest violence raises the death toll in President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown to 4,239 since it was launched in July 2016. The U.S. and European countries have expressed alarm over the drug killings. </s> Thirty two suspected drug dealers were killed in police shootouts in the Philippines on Tuesday night, during the bloodiest 24 hours so far of a state war on drugs that has killed over 7,000 people in the last year.

The police conducted 49 “buy-bust” operations, using undercover officers to attempt to buy drugs from suspected dealers, and 14 raids, in the province of Bucalan, just north of the capital, Manila, said police superintendent Romeo Caramat.

Describing his forces’ actions as “one time, big time”, he said that 25 of these operations had “resulted in armed encounter” during which 32 were killed and 107 were arrested. Officers also confiscated over 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786g of marijuana, and firearms.

Mr Caramat told reporters that while the police tried to avoid casualties during their operations, that “we do not have control of the situation.” </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police said Wednesday that an updated report shows anti-drug operations in a northern province this week left 32 alleged drug offenders dead — 11 more than earlier reported as the highest death toll in a single day since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his war on drugs a year ago.

Senior Superintendent Romeo M. Caramat Jr. said 66 police operations in various parts of Bulacan province Tuesday left 32 suspects dead in encounters with police, while 107 others were arrested.

Confiscated during the operations were more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786 grams of marijuana, assorted firearms, grenades and ammunition.

Police records show that since the nationwide crackdown started, more than 3,200 alleged drug offenders have been killed in gunbattles with law enforcers. More than 2,000 others died in drug-related homicides, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults.

Human rights groups report a higher toll and demand an independent investigation into Duterte’s possible role in the violence.

Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> MANILA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Twenty-five criminals were killed overnight in the Philippine capital Manila, police said on Thursday, including 14 in anti-drug operations in a second night of heavy bloodshed this week as a fierce war on drugs intensifies.

The killings across Manila followed 32 deaths in near-simultaneous police operations on Monday night through to Tuesday in Bulacan province, marking the deadliest period of a controversial crackdown by President Rodrigo Duterte that has killed thousands of Filipinos.

Joel Napoleon Coronel, director of Manila Police District, told reporters the 14 were killed in sting operations and 11 other deaths were robbers who were also involved in narcotics.

The identity of the killers of the 11 people were not known and the incidents were under investigation, police reports said. (Reporting by Dondi Tawatao; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kim Coghill) </s> Philippine police killed 13 suspected drug dealers and arrested more than 100 people in dozens of anti-narcotics operations on Wednesday in a province north of the capital, its police chief said.

More than 4,000 Filipinos have been killed by police, and thousands more by unidentified armed men, during President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial 20-month war on drugs. Most killings have been in rundown areas of Manila and the nearby provinces of Bulacan and Cavite.

Human rights groups and Duterte’s political opponents say executions of drug users and small-time peddlers are widespread, but police insist those killed were all dealers who put up violent resistance.

Police in Bulacan ran about 60 sting operations in nine towns, the police chief said on Thursday.

Bulacan is where 32 people were killed in a single day in August last year. Last month, an additional 10 drug suspects died in a bloody night of drug busts.

“These operations are part of our stepped-up campaign against drugs and all other forms of criminality in the province,” Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat said in a statement. “Unfortunately, 13 of the suspects were killed when our officers fired in self-defence shortly after the suspects who were armed with concealed guns sensed they were being entrapped and started firing.”

More than 100 people were also arrested and 19 firearms and about 250 packets of suspected drugs were seized during the 24-hour operation, Caramat said.

Last month, a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague opened a preliminary examination into a complaint accusing Duterte and at least 11 officials of crimes against humanity.

The Philippines last week notified the United Nations of its decision to withdraw from the ICC because of what Duterte called outrageous attacks by UN officials and violations of due process. </s> Thirteen alleged drug traffickers were shot dead by the police in 24 hours in the Bulacan province in Philippines as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

The police killed 13 suspects and arrested another 109 during an intensive operation that lasted from Tuesday midnight to Thursday, according to a statement by the National Police in Bulacan, a province located north of Manila with a population of 2.2 million. </s> MANILA: At least 26 people died overnight in police operations in the Philippines capital Manila, police said on Thursday, a second night of heavy bloodshed this week in an intensification of President Rodrigo Duterte's fierce war on drugs and crime.

The killings across Manila followed 32 deaths in near-simultaneous police raids on Monday night in Bulacan province, which borders the capital. Together, they mark the deadliest period of a drugs-focused crackdown that has killed thousands of Filipinos, and caused international alarm, since Duterte took office over a year ago.

Colonel Erwin Margarejo, spokesman for Manila police, described the raids that started late Wednesday in Manila as "one-time, big-time" operations, the same term used by police in Bulacan, who said the victims died because they chose to put up a fight.

"This is 'one-time, big-time' operations, so it is not focused only on drugs, we are operating also against other street crimes, like robbery, but these people could also be under the influence of drugs," Margarejo said.

"If they resisted violently, our police have to defend themselves."

Duterte unleashed his crackdown the day he took office on June 30 last year after a convincing win in an election in which he campaigned heavily on a promise to use deadly force to wipe out crime and drugs.

It was not immediately clear what was behind the step-up in the number of coordinated police operations this week, but Duterte gave a clear indication on Wednesday that it had his blessing.

He said it was good that 32 criminals had been killed in Bulacan, then added: "Let's kill another 32 every day. Maybe we can reduce what ails this country."

Duterte also chided human rights groups for getting in the way of his anti-drugs campaign and said police should shoot them if they obstructed justice, a remark the New York-based Human Rights Watch said puts activists "in grave danger".

Its deputy Asia director, Phelim Kine, described the comments as "like painting a target on the backs of courageous people working to protect the rights and upholding the dignity of all Filipinos."

The exact number of people killed during the war on drugs is difficult to quantify, with no independent statistics available and police providing comprehensive data only for deaths during anti-drugs operations, where official accounts typically say suspects resisted arrest.

From the start of the drugs war to the end of July, police said over 3,400 people were killed in their operations. Police said about 2,100 deaths among some 13,500 murders over the same period were drugs-related, attributed to turf wars, informants being silenced, or vigilantes killing drug users.

A total of 65 policemen have been killed on the job in this time.

Critics maintain that members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are executing suspects and say it is likely they have a hand in thousands of unsolved murders of drug users by mysterious vigilantes. The PNP and government reject that.

Although the violence has been criticised by much of the international community, Filipinos largely support the campaign and domestic opposition to it has been muted.

Several Senate hearings into allegations that Duterte operated a death squad when he was a city mayor and was now using the same approach on a national scale have been inconclusive, while an impeachment complaint filed earlier this year was dismissed by Congress. </s> MANILA, Philippines — Philippine police say they have killed at least 26 more drug offenders in overnight gunbattles in the capital, bringing the death toll in the president's renewed crackdown to 58 in the last three days.

President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his satisfaction with the new spike in drug killings and reassured law enforcers Thursday he would ensure they will not rot in jail if they get entangled in lawsuits.

Manila police Chief Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel says 26 drug suspects were killed and more than 70 others arrested across the congested city in overnight police assaults.

The deaths followed the killings of 32 suspects in separate police anti-drug raids Tuesday in Bulacan province north of Manila under Duterte's notoriously bloody campaign that has horrified rights groups.
At least 32 people are killed in a series of police raids near Manila, Philippines, allegedly due to the ongoing drug war.