ordered police to carry out executions and urged citizens to kill drug users and dealers

Nearly 1,000 people killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power

More gruesome images emerge of suspected drug dealers lying dead in the streets of the Philippines


More gruesome images have emerged of suspected drug dealers lying dead in the streets of Manila as the Philippine government intensifies its brutal war on narcotics.

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power and embarked on a bloody campaign against illegal drugs.

Pictures emerged on Monday of slain drug dealers and users on the streets of Manila, investigators taking photographs of the corpses and placing them into body bags.

A police investigator takes pictures of the corpse of a suspected drug pusher and victim of a vigilante-style execution with his hands tied and head wrapped with tape on a street in Manila

The corpse of a suspected drug pusher lies outside a house after he was shot dead following a police operation at a slum area in Manila

Police investigators find an empty bullet shell next to the corpse of a suspected drug pusher after he was shot dead following an encounter with police

Duterte has publicly named hundreds of politicians, military and police personnel, and other influential people allegedly involved in the drug trade and has ordered them to surrender or be hunted down.

The president won a landslide election victory in May, a victory that was largely based on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of criminals.

'These sons of w****s are destroying our children. I warn you, don't go into that, even if you're a policeman, because I will really kill you,' the president told an audience during a speech in Manila.

He vowed on one occasion during the election campaign that 100,000 people would die, and so many bodies would be dumped in Manila Bay that the fish there would grow fat from feeding on them, according to the South China Morning Post.

The latest images emerge after a man was pictured lying bloodied and motionless on the streets of Manila after he reportedly fought back during a drug bust operation. It is thought he died at the scene.

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed by police or vigilantes since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power and embarked on a bloody campaign against illegal drugs

Workers from a funeral parlour load into an ambulance a corpse collected from the Paranaque city jail, where a grenade blast killed 10 inmates, 8 of whom were awaiting trial for drug-related cases

Duterte has made it clear he would pardon police if they were charged with human rights violations

Graphic images show a suspected drug dealer lying dead in the streets of Philippine capital Manila after he resisted arrest

President Duterte has made it clear he would pardon police if they were charged with human rights violations for carrying out his merciless orders.

The continuing bloodshed in the Philippines has begun to inflame diplomatic tensions, with the US embassy warning the Duterte government military aid allotted to the country was tied to adherence to the rule of law, due process and respect for human rights.

'We are concerned by reports regarding extrajudicial killings of individuals suspected to have been involved in drug activity in the Philippines,' the embassy said.

'We strongly urge the Philippines to ensure its law enforcement efforts are consistent with its human rights obligations,' the embassy added.

A man lying bloodied and motionless on the streets of Manila after he reportedly fought back during a drug bust operation

Mr Duterte said he would pardon police if they were charged with human rights violations for carrying out his orders

Two women cry in grief after armed assailants in a motorcycle shot their loved one in a main thoroughfare on July 23, in Manila

A Philippine foreign department statement said that Manila was focused on the eradication of drugs in society.

'Nevertheless, while pursuing this objective, the Philippine government is committed to the rule of law, and the protection of human rights for all.

'We do not condone any unlawful killings and Philippine authorities have been instructed to immediately look into these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.'

One of the nation's top human rights lawyers, Jose Manuel Diokno, warned that Duterte had 'spawned a nuclear explosion of violence that is spiralling out of control and creating a nation without judges'.

A crime scene shows where an alleged drug dealer was killed last month. Philippine police said they had killed 550 drug suspects while arresting nearly 8,000 others since the May election

A young alleged drug dealer pictured in July with his hands and feet bound and his head wrapped in tape besides a road