![]() Some estimates placed the amount of food aid being stolen at 80 percent, while other estimates claimed a far lower estimate of 20 percent. The international community began to send food supplies to halt the starvation, but significant amounts were hijacked and brought to local clan leaders, who routinely exchanged it with other countries for weapons. The civil war had resulted in the destruction of Somalia's agriculture, which in turn led to starvation in large parts of southern Somalia. Later that year severe fighting broke out in Mogadishu between Mahdi and Aidid, which continued in the following months and spread throughout the country, resulting in over 20,000 casualties by the end of 1991. US Marine CH-53 Sea Stallion delivers aid to the village of Maleel (January 1993) Some scholars believe that it was a major factor that influenced the Clinton administration's decision not to intervene in the Rwandan genocide, and it has commonly been referred to as "Somalia Syndrome". Fear of a repeat of the battle was the reason for America's reluctance to increase its involvement in Somalia and other regions. The battle shifted American foreign policy and it eventually led to the pullout of the U.N. In the aftermath of the battle, dead American soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by enraged Somalis, an act which was broadcast to public outcry on American television. Owing to the dense urban character of the battle, estimates of Somali casualties greatly vary - with most estimates set between 315 and 2,000 Somali casualties, including civilians. Casualties included 18 dead American soldiers and 73 wounded, with Malaysian forces suffering one death and seven wounded, and Pakistani forces suffering one death and two injuries. Īt the time, the battle caused the most significant loss of U.S. In the morning, a UNOSOM II armored convoy fought their way to the besieged soldiers and withdrew, incurring further casualties but eventually rescuing the survivors. A desperate defense of the two downed helicopters began and fighting lasted through the night to defend the survivors of the crashes. As the operation was ongoing, Somali forces shot down three American Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters using RPG-7s, with two crashing deep in hostile territory. While the goal of the operation was achieved, it was a pyrrhic victory and spiraled into the deadly Battle of Mogadishu. 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. On October 3, 1993, US forces planned to seize two of Aidids high-ranking lieutenants during a meeting deep in the city. The raid would lead many Mogadishu residents to join the fight against UNOSOM II forces and it would also lead Aidid and the Somali National Alliance, to deliberately attack 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. forces in Mogadishu launched the Abdi House raid, on July 12, 1993, resulting in the death of many elders and prominent members of Aidids clan, the Habr Gidr. As part of the campaign to capture Aidid, U.S. intervention up until the Battle of Mogadishu. 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. would suffer the worst loss of its peacekeepers in decades when the Pakistani contingent was attacked while inspecting an SNA weapons storage site. troops to Somalia, on June 5, 1993, the U.N. Seven months after the deployment of U.S. 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. The battle was part of the broader Somali Civil War that had begun in 1991. 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 of Mogadishu ( Somali: Maalintii Rangers, lit.'Day of the Rangers'), also known as the Black Hawk Down incident, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent.
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