User:Kayyyiiiiiii/sandbox
[2] The Battle of Mogadishu (Somali: Maalintii Rangers, lit. 'Day of the Rangers'), also known as the Black Hawk Down incident, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent. It was fought on 3–4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, between forces of the United States—supported by UNOSOM II—against the forces of the Somali National Alliance (SNA) and citizens of south Mogadishu. The battle was part of the broader Somali Civil War that had begun in 1991. The United Nations had initially become involved to provide food aid to alleviate starvation in the south of the country, but in the months preceding the battle, had shifted the mission to establishing democracy and restoring a central government.
| Date |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Mogadishu, Somalia | ||
| Result | Somali National Alliance Victory | ||
| Belligerents | |||
| United States Malaysia Pakistan
Supported by:United Nations |
Somali National Alliance | ||
| Commanders and leaders | |||
|
Mohamed Farrah Aidid | ||
| Strength | |||
| 160 initial forces
3,000 rescue forces 19 aircraft 16 helicopters 9 utility vehicles 3 trucks |
2000 | ||
| Casualties and losses | |||
| 19 killed
73 wounded 1 captured 2 helicopters destroyed (USA) 1 killed 7 wounded (Malaysia) 1 killed 2 wounded (Pakistan) |
300 Killed SNA (including civillians) 812 Injured | ||
Seven months after the deployment of U.S. troops to Somalia, on June 5, 1993, the U.N. would suffer the worst loss of its peacekeepers in decades when the Pakistani contingent was attacked while inspecting an SNA weapons storage site. Mohammed Farah Aidid, head of the SNA, would become a fugitive after UNOSOM II blamed his faction for the incident and a hunt for him would begin that would characterize most of the U.N. intervention up until the Battle of Mogadishu. As part of the campaign to capture Aidid, U.S. forces in Mogadishu launched the Abdi House raid, on July 12, 1993, resulting in the death of scores of elders and prominent members of Aidids clan, the Habr Gidr.[6][7] The raid would lead thousands of Somalis from all walks of life in Mogadishu to sympathize with or join the fight against UNOSOM II forces and would lead Aidid and the Somali National Alliance, to deliberately target and kill American personnel for the first time on August 8, 1993, which would in turn lead President Clinton to dispatch the Task Force Ranger to capture Aidid
On October 3, 1993, US forces planned to seize two of Aidids high-ranking lieutenants during a meeting deep in the city. The raid was only intended to last an hour, but morphed into an overnight standoff and rescue operation extending into the daylight hours of the next day. While the goal of the operation was achieved, it was a pyrrhic victory and spiraled into the deadly Battle of Mogadishu.[11] As the operation was ongoing, Somali forces shot down two American Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters using RPG-7s. A desperate defense of the downed helicopters began and fighting lasted through the night to defend the survivors of the crashes. In the morning, a UNOSOM II armored convoy fought their way to the helicopters, incurring further casualties but eventually rescuing the survivors.
Casualties included 18 dead American soldiers and 73 wounded,[12] with Malaysian forces suffering one death and seven wounded, and Pakistani forces suffering one death and two injuries.[citation needed] There were between 315 and 1,000 Somali casualties.[citation needed] The battle shifted American foreign policy and led to an eventual pullout of the U.N. mission in 1995.
In the aftermath of the battle, dead American soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by enraged Somalis, which was shown on American television—to public outcry. Fear of a repeat of the battle was a reason for American reluctance to get further involved in Somalia and other regions. Some scholars argue that it was a major factor that affected the Clinton administration's decision to not intervene in the Rwandan genocide, and has been commonly referred to as "Somalia Syndrome
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
General Aididwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Aidid, General (1993). "Snatch and Grab".
- Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid (Somali: Maxamed Faarax Xasan Caydiid; Arabic: محمد فرح حسن عيديد; 15 December 1934 – 1 August 1996) was a Somali former general, diplomat and warlord. He was the chairman of the United Somali Congress (USC) and later led the Somali National Alliance (SNA).
