page_title: Battle of Mogadishu (1993)
section_title: Mission shift
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Mogadishu (1993) / Background / Mission shift
caption_attribution_description: English: A Saudi Arabian High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) with a QCB machine gun mounted on top depart for the seaport of Mogadishu. The Saudis are providing support for UNOSOM II.
context_page_description: The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down incident, and as Battle of Bakara Market in Malaysia, 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—and Somali militiamen loyal to the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. It was part of the broader Somali Civil War, which had intensified since 1991 and threatened famine; the UN had become engaged to provide food aid, but eventually shifted their mission to establish democracy and restore a secure government.
  Standing in the way was Aidid, who refused to cooperate with the UN. The American Task Force Ranger was dispatched to seize two of Aidid's high-echelon lieutenants during a meeting in the city. The goal of the operation was achieved, although it was a Pyrrhic victory and conditions spiraled into the deadly Battle of Mogadishu. The initial operation of 3 October 1993, intended to last an hour, became an overnight standoff and rescue operation extending into the daylight hours of 4 October 1993.
  The assault was planned to include an air and ground phase.
context_section_description: On 3 March 1993, the U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali submitted to the U.N. Security Council his recommendations for effecting the transition from UNITAF to UNOSOM II. He indicated that since Resolution 794's adoption in December 1992, UNITAF's presence and operations had created a positive impact on Somalia's security situation and on the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance (UNITAF deployed 37,000 personnel over forty percent of southern and central Somalia). There was still no effective government, police, or national army with the result of serious security threats to U.N. personnel. To that end, the 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 15 March 1993, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, all fifteen Somali parties agreed to the terms set out to restore peace and democracy. Within a month or so, however, by May 1993, it became clear that, although a signatory to the March Agreement, Mohammed Farrah Aidid's faction would not cooperate in the Agreement's implementation.
  Aidid began to broadcast anti-U.N. propaganda on Radio Mogadishu after believing that the U.N. was purposefully marginalizing him in an attempt to "rebuild Somalia". Lieutenant General Çevik Bir ordered the radio station shut down, in an attempt to quash the beginning of what could turn into a rebellion. Civilian spies throughout UNOSOM II's headquarters likely led to the uncovering of the U.N.'s plan. On 5 June 1993, Aidid ordered SNA militia to attack a Pakistani force that had been tasked with the inspection of an arms cache located at the radio station, possibly out of fear that this was a task force sent to shut down the broadcast. The result was 24 dead and 57 wounded Pakistani troops, as well as 1 wounded Italian and 3 wounded American soldiers.
  On 6 June 1993, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 837, for the arrest and prosecution of the persons responsible for the death and wounding of the peacekeepers.
  On 12 June, U.S. troops started attacking targets in Mogadishu in hopes of finding Aidid, a campaign which lasted until 16 June. On 17 June, a $25,000 warrant was issued by Admiral Jonathan Howe for information leading to Aidid's arrest, but he was never captured. Howe also requested a rescue force after the Pakistanis' deaths.
caption: UNOSOM II humvee departing for the seaport of Mogadishu.
exif: {"Image Make": "Nikon", "Image Model": "Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 8000 ED", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2002:07:15 13:22:20", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "378", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4971", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1983"}