At least 26 people died Wednesday night in police operations in the Philippines capital Manila, authorities 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 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.
Col. 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.