By Zachary Abuza
On May 23, a unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) operating on a tip, moved in on a safehouse in the southern Philippine city of Marawi, where a top Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon, was said to be holed up. It was a setup. What was supposed to be a quick operation turned into a four month quagmire, with a death toll of some 147 members of the security forces and 45 civilians. Like the botched Mamasapano raid in January 2015 that led to the death of 44 Philippine National Police Special Action Forces, this was a tactical fiasco with strategic consequences.
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