Mamasapano clash

The Mamasapano clash was a shootout that took place during a police operation by the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on January 25, 2015, in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, then-undivided Maguindanao (which is now Maguindanao del Sur). The operation, codenamed Oplan Exodus, was intended to capture or kill wanted Malaysian terrorist and bomb-maker Zulkifli Abdhir and other Malaysian terrorists or high-ranking members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Originally a mission to serve arrest warrants for high-ranking terrorists, it led to the deaths of 44 members of the SAF, 17 or 18 from the MILF and BIFF, five civilians, and the death of Abdhir confirmed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the PNP at 6:30 p.m. on February 4, 2015, through a matching DNA result. Abdhir was one of FBI's most wanted terrorists. Getulio Napeñas, the relieved SAF commander, estimates about 250 deaths from his assumption that each SAF sniper may have taken down at least 20 opponents from the combined MILF, BIFF, and private militias during the encounter although this was not confirmed and was met with skepticism; aside from the fact that there was no body count, there is no acceptable level of evidence to prove his claim. Napenas' estimate was also debunked by the MILF and by the local government of Mamasapano.

The mission itself was declared successful once the target was neutralized. The severity of the policemen's situation prompted the government peace panel to intervene and request a ceasefire from the MILF. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also conducted a rescue operation to save the remaining 29 SAF survivors who were encircled by the enemies.

The operation caught the attention of the public for the relatively high number of police officers killed. 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 Congress of the Philippines to halt the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, effectively endangering the peace process between the government and the MILF.