US ‘cautiously optimistic’ after seeing decline in extrajudicial killings in Philippines drug war

Thomson Reuters

• The US is cautiously optimistic about Philippine President rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs after seeing a decline in extrajudicial killings.
• The US has shifted away millions in dollars in support for law enforcement for the Philippines since the bloody anti-drug campaign started in 2016.
• Nearly 4,000 have been killed in shoot-outs with the police as they crack down on the trade of illegal drugs.

MANILA (Reuters) – The U.S. government is “cautiously optimistic” on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs after it saw a decline in “extrajudicial killings,” a U.S. senior narcotics official said.

Washington has shifted away millions of dollars in funding for law enforcement from a drug control program of the Philippine National Police since the bloody anti-narcotics campaign started in July 2016.

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