2 PDEA agents killed in Maguindanao ambush

MANILA, Philippines – Two anti-drug operatives were killed while two others were hurt in a pre-dawn ambush in Maguindanao province on Monday, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said. In an initial report, PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon identified the fatalities as Intelligence Officer (IO) 2 Pablo June Jala and a confidential agent identified only as “Tho." Those who sustained gunshot wounds were IO3 Brian Babang and IO1 Mark Anthony Viray - all are members of the PDEA’s Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) unit. The report said that the agents were on their way to serve an arrest warrant against a certain Piad Buaya Abula when a group of heavily-armed men staged the ambush. Authorities from the PDEA-ARMM, the police and the military are now hunting down the attackers, the report said. - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV