Manila: Two police officers were killed and four others injured during a shootout between the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents outside a mall in the capital Manila on Wednesday night, police said.
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Police Major General Vicente Danao, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, said the injured include a police officer and three PDEA agents, the Xinhua news reported.
PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon told a television interview that the drug agents were conducting a buy-bust operation at the mall in the Quezon City suburb when the shootout broke out.
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The mall management confirmed that the shootout took place past 6 p.m. local time. "We have secured all access to the mall, so all shoppers are safe inside," the mall said in a statement.
The police said that a joint board of inquiry composed of personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the PDEA will be established following the shootout.
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"In the interest of determining the truth behind the incident, a joint PNP-PDEA Board of Inquiry will be formed to determine what transpired and who should be held liable," the PNP said in a statement.
IANS Report
