KORONADAL, Philippines — A Philippine town mayor who was publicly identified by President Rodrigo Duterte as a drug trafficking suspect was gunned down Friday with nine of his men at a police checkpoint, in one of the bloodiest operations since the crackdown was launched. Little over a month after he took office on a promise to rid the Philippines of illegal drugs, Duterte in August read out the names of more than 150 officials allegedly linked to illegal drugs, among them Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan township in southern Maguindanao province. Samsudin Dimaukom, the mayor of the southern town of Saudi Ampatuan, was one of the more than 150 local government officials, judges and police identified by Mr. Duterte earlier this year as being involved in the illegal drug trade. Bernard Tayong, spokesman for the Cotabato Police Provincial Office, confirmed that Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town was killed in the “armed engagement” between his group and law enforcers in Barangay Old Bulatukan at about 4:30 a.m. Duterte’s profanities have become his trademark, especially when threatening to kill drug dealers as part of his war on illegal drugs, which has left thousands dead since he took office at the end of June. Mr. Duterte, who swept to power in May elections on a pledge to eradicate drugs, has described his critics as “fools” and has said he is not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals.
Datu Saudi-Ampatuan mayor Samsudin Dimaukom, publicly accused by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of involvement in the illegal drug trade, is killed, along with nine others, by Philippine police at a highway checkpoint in what police describe as an anti-drug operation.