Manila, Aug 3 (IANS): A town vice mayor and his security aide were killed, and two others, including the vice mayor's 11-year-old child, were wounded after gunmen ambushed his car in Maguindanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines, police said on Saturday.

In a report, the provincial police said unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets into the vice mayor's pickup truck in South Upi town at around 5 p.m. local time on Friday, killing the official and his aide at the scene, Xinhua news agency reported.

The official's wife and child suffered slight injuries in the attack, while another child, aged 13, was unhurt, police added.

"The perpetrators fled the scene in an unknown direction after the incident," the police report said.

It added that police and troops have launched "intensive search operations" to arrest the gunmen, "employing all available resources and collaborating closely with other law enforcement agencies to accelerate the investigation."

"A thorough investigation is underway to gather information and identify the individuals responsible for this heinous crime," the report added.