For many years, strife-torn Somalia has struggled with food insecurity and famine-like conditions. Ironically, the country’s alarming circumstances are reminiscent of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, when the US under the aegis of UN stepped in to arrest the spreading famine in one of the poorest countries but ended up losing two Black Hawk choppers and as many as 18 soldiers.

The United Nations (UN) established the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) in 1992 to aid in the fight against civil war and hunger in the African state. At the same time, the UN launched ‘Operation Provide Relief’ to send food to the people of Somalia.

However, the delivery of aid became challenging due to the fighting between factions led by warlords in the country. The UN mission to Somalia discovered that the food did not reach the people who needed it the most, prompting it to take a stern action to assist the people of the violence-ravaged state.

Subsequently, in December 1992, the United States (which was part of the UN mission) launched Operation Restore Hope. The operation was green-lit by the then-US President, George H.W. Bush, who approved the deployment of US troops to Somalia to help with famine assistance. 

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This led to the formation of the United Nations’ United Task Force (UNITAF) under the authority of Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter. The task force was essentially a multinational military force that got UN approval for the use of force to maintain peace. By March 1993, the UNITAF had transitioned to UNOSOM II.

However, this military force faced many challenges. Mohammad Farah Aidid, the leader of the Somali National Alliance (SNA), one of the main warring factions in the Somali Civil War, repeatedly challenged UNOSOM II’s efforts to protect aid deliveries.

The UNOSOM II had now taken on the duty to restore democracy in the country, putting it directly against the SNA. Under the new UNOSOM II charter, “the UNOSOM was also mandated to assist in the reconstruction of economic, social and political life. But while UNITAF had patrolled less than half of the country with 37,000 well-equipped troops, the 22,000 United Nations peacekeepers were given the mandate to cover all of Somalia,” states the UN Peacekeeping history.

UNOSOM II called for a ceasefire to ease the situation and allow aid to get to the masses. However, the warring factions in the country refused to halt the fighting. What followed led to a catastrophe.

During an inspection of Radio Mogadishu and weapons storage facility in the capital Mogadishu in June 1993, Pakistani troops (part of the UNOSOM II mission) were ambushed, resulting in massive casualties. The attack was allegedly triggered by the UNOSOM’s effort to investigate or shut down Radio Mogadishu, which the SNA purportedly controlled.

The UNOSOM II accused the SNA of being behind the gruesome attack that set in motion a long period of animosity and armed conflict between the two sides. Shortly after the attack on the Pakistani troops, clashes between UNOSOM and Somali militiamen in Mogadishu resulted in casualties among civilians as well as the UNOSOM.

About a week after the clashes broke out, Pakistani troops used a machine gun to shoot Somali demonstrators. This resulted in several civilian casualties. Nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that the massacre of Pakistani troops went down in history as a turning point for the UNOSOM II mission in Somalia.

The focus had now turned to hunting down General Aidid. UNOSOM II and the SNA would fight a bloody four-month war until hostilities ended after the Battle of Mogadishu.

When The US Entered To Kill

The US force code-named Task Force Ranger launched an operation called ‘Gothic Serpent’ in August. The primary objective of this operation, which ran from August to October 1993, was to capture General Aidid.

On October 3, the US troops got intelligence that a meeting between Aidid and his top officials was taking place at a hotel in Mogadishu. This was believed to be the perfect opportunity to capture General Aidid and his accomplices. An operation was planned, ultimately leading to the ‘Battle of Mogadishu.’

Under the leadership of Major General William Garrison, the US Joint Special Operation Forces (JSOF) launched an airborne operation that would last for about 17 hours. The JSOF personnel, landing from their helicopters, managed to secure the hotel and capture over 20 SNA troops. However, General Aidid remained elusive.

Meanwhile, a convoy of the special forces took the road to reach the venue to extract the officials and prisoners from there, only to be delayed by roadblocks and faced with continuous fire.

At the hotel, the situation was precarious as the SNA militia ambushed the US forces and gave them a very tough fight. The SNA troops shot down two Black Hawk helicopters, the second within 20 minutes of the first, using the Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).

The helicopters went down but some of the crew members survived. The US troops rushed to rescue the crew from both crash sites. However, they came under heavy fire.

The first crash site had no survivors. However, the wreckage of the second helicopter became a site of intense fighting between the US troops and the Somali militia. At least one surviving pilot, Michael Durant, was captured and held by the Somali militia men.

“It was a huge gun battle. They say that 25 Somalis were killed by gunfire at crash site two, so that gives you some insight into how much shooting was going on,” Durant would later tell BBC.

Needless to say, far from a success, the US operation turned out to be a massive debacle. President Bill Clinton declared on October 7 that by March 1994, all American forces would be removed from combat.

“Aidid’s forces shot down two Black Hawk helicopters in a battle which led to the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Somalis. The deaths turned the tide of public opinion in the United States. President Bill Clinton pulled U.S. troops out of combat four days later, and all U.S. troops left the country in March 1994. The United Nations withdrew from Somalia in March 1995. Fighting continued in the country,” states the US Office of the Historian.

The battle, known infamously as the Battle of Mogadishu, paved the way for the exit of US troops.

The incident was believed to be the bloodiest for US troops since the Vietnam War and led to a strategic rethink in US foreign policy. American foreign policy was significantly impacted by the fallout from this incident, which led to the termination of UNOSOM II. In fact, questions were also raised about the former President’s approval of sending troops into Somalia in the first place.

The US State Department said: “The United States has long had to face the challenge of determining to what degree it wants to participate in global peacekeeping efforts and whether or not U.S. lives should be put at risk for peacekeeping. Events in Somalia between 1992 and 1994 threw that debate into sharp relief.”

Despite the events of the time, the US Army views the Battle of Mogadishu as a tactical victory. They claim that a force of less than 100 repelled a strongly equipped opponent at least ten times greater.

Later, Mark Bowden published Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War in 1999. The book was also adapted into a movie in 2001. More recently, Netflix released a documentary on the battle, which revived suppressed memories of the battle once again.

It is noteworthy that while these events date back three decades, the situation in Somalia remains unchanged. The country remains in the clutches of conflict, and fears of a famine are now a real possibility. 

According to the World Food Program, “Around 1.7 million children under the age of five are expected to face acute malnutrition through December 2025. Of those, 466,000 face severe acute malnutrition. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of the total malnutrition burden is concentrated in southern Somalia, where drought conditions and insecurity are the worst.”

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