28/04/2021
The Mamasapano clash was an incident that occurred during a police operation, codenamed Oplan Exodus, which took place on Sunday, January 25, 2015, at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao, by Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) (allegedly joined by United States Army Special Forces) against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (M**F). The operation was intended to capture or kill wanted Malaysian terrorist and bomb-maker Zulkifli Abdhir and other Malaysian terrorists or high-ranking members of the BIFF.
Originally a mission to serve arrest warrants for high-ranking terrorists, it led to the deaths of 44 members of SAF, 18 from M**F and BIFF, and five civilians, and the death of Zulkifli Abdhir confirmed by the FBI and the PNP at 6:30 p.m. of February 4, 2015, due to a matching DNA result. He was one of FBI's most wanted terrorists. Getulio Napeñas, the relieved SAF commander, estimates about 250 deaths from his assumption that each SAF snipers may have taken down at least 20 opponents from the combined M**F, BIFF, and private militias during the encounter although this was not confirmed and was met with skepticism since aside from the fact that there was no actual body count, there is no acceptable level of evidence to prove his claim.Napenas' estimate was also debunked by the M**F and by the local government of Mamasapano.
The mission itself was declared successful since the target was neutralized but the ensuing firefight resulted in a tactical victory of M**F forces against the PNP SAF. The severity of the policemen's situation prompted the government peace panel to intervene and requested a ceasefire from the M**F. The Armed Forces of the Philippines also conducted a rescue operation to save the remaining 29 SAF survivors who were encircled by the enemies.[28][29]
The operation caught the attention of the public for the relatively high number of police officers killed. The clash has been dubbed as the biggest loss of government elite force in history.The mission was called Oplan Exodus, initially misattributed as Oplan Wolverine by the local media. Oplan Wolverine refers to three of the other nine prior operation attempts targeting Marwan; Oplan Wolverine 1, 2 and 3 launched in December 2012, March and May 2014 respectively, by the PNP-SAF. The incident caused the Philippine Congress to halt the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, effectively endangering the peace process between the government and the M**F.
