Battle of Mogadishu

Battle of Mogadishu

The Battle of Mogadishu or for Somalis Ma-alinti Rangers (The Day of the Rangers) was fought on October 3 and 4, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia, by forces of the United States (by order of U.S. President Bill Clinton) supported by UNOSOM II against Somali guerrilla fighters (loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid).

Task Force Ranger, which consisted of an assault force made up of Army Delta Force (some US Navy SEALs) and Ranger teams, an air element provided by the 160th SOAR, and members of the Air Force Pararescue/Air Force Combat Controllers, executed an operation which involved traveling from their compound on the outskirts of the city to capture leaders of Aidid's militia. The assault force was composed of nineteen aircraft, twelve vehicles and 160 men. During the operation, two U.S. MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by rocket propelled grenades, and three others were damaged. Some of the soldiers were able to evacuate wounded back to the compound, but others were trapped at the crash sites and cut off. An urban battle ensued throughout the night. Early the next morning, a joint task force was sent to rescue the trapped troops. It contained soldiers from Pakistan, Malaysia, and U.S. soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division. They assembled some 100 vehicles, including Pakistani tanks and Malaysian Condor armored personnel carriers, and were supported by US A/MH-6 Little Bird, AH-1 Cobra and MH-60 helicopters. This task force reached the first crash site and led the trapped soldiers out. The second crash site was overrun; the lone surviving American was taken prisoner, but later released.

Somali casualty figures are unknown, but American estimates are that between 1,000 and 1,500 Somali militiamen and civilians lost their lives in the battle, with injuries to another 3,000-4,000. Estimates from the book estimated more than 700 Somali militiamen dead, and more than one thousand wounded. Eighteen American soldiers died and 73 were wounded (another American soldier, Delta team leader SFC Matt Rierson, was killed in a mortar attack two days later). One Malaysian soldier died, and seven were wounded; two Pakistanis were also wounded.

Background to the battle

In January 1991, the leader of Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre, was overthrown by a coalition of opposing clans, called the United Somalia Congress. After this revolution, the coalition divided into two groups. One was led by Ali Mahdi, who became president; and the other, by Mohammed Farah Aidid. In total, there were four opposing groups: the United Somali Congress (USC), Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), and Somali Democratic Movement (SDM), which continued to fight over the domination of Somalia. In June, 1991, a ceasefire was agreed to, which failed to hold. A fifth group, the Somali National Movement (SNM), had already in June, seceded from the northwest portion of Somalia, re-naming it the Somaliland Republic, with the leader of the SNM, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed Ali as president.

In September 1991, severe fighting broke out in Mogadishu, which continued in the following months and spread throughout the country, with over 20,000 people killed or injured by the end of the year. These wars led to the destruction of the agriculture of Somalia, which in turn led to starvation in large parts of Somalia. The international community began to send food supplies to halt the starvation, but vast amounts of food were hijacked and brought to local clan leaders, who routinely exchanged it with other countries for weapons. An estimated 80 percent of the food was stolen. These factors led to even more starvation, from which an estimated 300,000 people died, and another 1.5 million people suffered, between 1991 and 1992. In July, 1992, after a ceasefire between the opposing clan factions, the United Nations (UN) sent 50 military observers to watch the distribution of the food.

Operation Provide Relief began in August, 1992, when the Bush White House announced that U.S. military transports would support the multinational UN relief effort in Somalia. Ten C-130s and 400 people were deployed to Mombasa, Kenya during Operation Provide Relief, airlifting aid to remote areas in Somalia, to reduce reliance on truck convoys. One member of the 86th Supply Squadron was deployed with the ground support contingent, USAFE's only contribution to the operation. The Air Force C-130s delivered 48,000 tons of food and medical supplies in six months to international humanitarian organizations trying to help the over three million starving people in the country. When this proved inadequate to stop the massive death and displacement of the Somali people (500,000 dead and 1.5 million refugees or displaced), the U.S. in December, 1992, launched a major coalition operation, Operation Restore Hope, to assist and protect humanitarian activities, under which the United States would assume the unified command of the new operation, in accordance with resolution 794 (1992).

Mission shift to nation-building

A key moment in the operation was when the mission shifted from delivering food supplies to nation-building.

On March 3, 1993 the U.N. Secretary-General submitted to the U.N. Security Council his recommendations for effecting the transition from UNITAF to UNOSOM II. He indicated that since the adoption of Council resolution 794 (1992) in December 1992, the presence and operations of UNITAF had a positive impact on the security situation in Somalia and on the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance (UNITAF deployed some 37,000 personnel over forty percent of southern and central Somalia). However, there was still no effective government, police, or national army with the result of serious security threats to UN personnel. To that end, the U.N. Security Council authorized UNOSOM II to establish a secure environment throughout Somalia, to achieve national reconciliation so as to create a democratic state.

At the Conference on National Reconciliation in Somalia, held on March 15, 1993 in Addis Ababa, all fifteen Somali parties agreed to the terms set out to restore peace and democracy. Yet by May it became clear that, although signatory to the March Agreement, General Mohammed Farrah Aidid's faction would not cooperate in the Agreement's implementation.

UNOSOM II's attempts to implement disarmament led to violence. On June 5 1993, twenty-four Pakistani troops in the UN force were killed in heavy fighting in an area of Mogadishu controlled by Aidid. It was widely reported that the bodies of the UN peacekeepers had been mutilated. Some were skinned. Any hope of a peaceful resolution of the conflict quickly vanished. The next day, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 837 calling for the arrest and trial of those responsible for the ambush.

One of the most unfortunate results of this occurred on July 12, 1993 when a United States-led operation was launched on what was believed to be a safe house in Mogadishu where members of Aidid's Habr Gedir clan were supposedly meeting to plan more violence against U.S. and U.N. forces. In reality, elders of the clan, not gunmen, were meeting in the house. According to U.N. officials, the agenda (which was advertised in the local newspaper) was to discuss ways to peacefully resolve the conflict between Aidid and the multinational task force in Somalia, and perhaps even to remove Aidid as leader of the clan.

What eventually took place that day was a 17-minute combat operation in which U.S. Cobra attack helicopters fired 16 TOW missiles and thousands of 20-millimeter cannon rounds into the compound. When the operation was over and the smoke had cleared, more than 50 of the clan elders, the oldest and most respected in their community, were dead[citation needed]. Some in Mogadishu believe that this was a turning point in unifying Somalians against the U.S. and U.N. efforts in Somalia.[citation needed] It would also lead to the deaths of four journalists, Dan Eldon, Hos Maina, Hansi Kraus and Anthony Macharia, who were killed by angry Somali mobs when they arrived to cover the incident. A fifth journalist, Scott Peterson, was injured but was rescued by his driver.

Killed on Oct. 3 and 4, 1993

US personnel

With posthumous awards listed.

• Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart, a Delta Sniper killed defending the crew of Super Six 4, the Medal of Honor.
• Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, a Delta Sniper killed defending the crew of Super Six 4, the Medal of Honor.
• Master Sgt. Tim "Griz" Martin, Delta soldier killed on the Lost Convoy, Delta Force.
• Sgt. First Class Earl Fillmore, Delta soldier killed moving to the first crash site, Delta Force.
• Staff Sgt. Daniel Busch, crashed on Super Six 1 and was killed defending the downed crew, the Silver Star, Delta Force.
• CWO Clifton Wolcott, pilot of Super Six 1 and died in crash,Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, and the Air Medal with Valor Device, Night Stalkers.
• CWO Donovan Briley, copilot of Super Six 1 and died in crash, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Air Medal with Valor Device, Night Stalkers.
• CWO Raymond Frank, copilot of Super Six 4, Silver Star, Air Medal with Valor Device, Night Stalkers.
• Staff Sgt. William Cleveland, a crew chief on Super Six 4, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Air Medal with Valor Device, Night Stalkers.
• Staff Sgt. Thomas Field, a crew chief on Super Six 4, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Air Medal with Valor Device, Night Stalkers.
• SGT Casey Joyce, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, 75th Ranger Regiment.
• SPC James Cavaco, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, 75th Ranger Regiment.
• CPL Jamie Smith, who bled to death with the pinned-down force around crash site one, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, 75th Ranger Regiment.
• SGT Dominick Pilla, who was killed on the convoy rescuing Pfc. Todd Blackburn, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, 75th Ranger Regiment.
• PFC Richard Kowalewski, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, 75th Ranger Regiment.
• SGT Lorenzo Ruiz, who was killed on the Lost Convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, 75th Ranger Regiment.
• SGT Cornell Houston, who was killed fighting on the rescue convoy, the Bronze Star with Valor Device, De Fleury medal, 10th Mountain Division.
• PFC James Martin, who was killed on the rescue convoy, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division.
• SGT Matt Rierson, who was killed on Oct. 4 by a mortar which landed just outside the hangar.

Malaysian personnel

• Pvt Mat Aznan Awang (posthumously promoted to Sgt) driver of a Malaysian Condor APC hit by a RPG. Awarded Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa.

Somali personnel and civilians

• Unknown due to lack of record keeping. Often estimated around 1,000 killed, with a few thousand more wounded or missing and presumed dead. There are numerous accounts of local hospitals and clinics completely overwhelmed and flooded with wounded and dead for weeks after the battle had ended. Due to the Islamic Law of burying bodies before sundown and the almost complete lack of any official tally or records, the numbers will almost certainly remain unknown.

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