Manila, Jan. 2 -- Police shot dead one of two suspects in the New Year's Eve grenade attack in Matalam, North Cotabato, during an operation Thursday night.

Lt. James Warren Caang, spokesperson for the Cotabato Police Provincial Office, said the suspect died in a shootout with Matalam police in Barangay Kilada at about 8 p.m. Thursday.

Pursuit operations continue for the second suspect.

"The attackers seemingly shifted to the revelers as 'soft targets' for retaliation against the anti-drug campaign," Caang said in a radio interview Friday.

He said the two men on a motorcycle targeted New Year's revelers, wounding 22 people, including nine minors.

Initial investigation linked the attack to the police anti-drug campaign in the municipal...