Philippine anti-narcotics officers gunned down a mayor Samsudin Dimaukom of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town and nine of his men in a clash in one of the bloodiest operations, Gulf News reported.

As one of the police officers said, hey were killed before dawn when they opened fire from three cars on officers at a checkpoint in Makilala town in North Cotabato province.

Large-scale anti-drug operation began during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte in July. According to the latest data, over 2,300 people were killed during these operations. Critics already several times slammed the government of Duterte because of murders without trial during the operations.