Battle of Mogadishu

Battle of Mogadishu

The tradition of humanitarian relief from the United States Army has been well known for their many successful operations. Operation Restore Hope in Somalia is sadly a different and tragic story. Restore Hope began in August 1992 and ran until March 1994. In the beginning, the Somalis were delighted to have U.S. soldiers, airmen, and Marines relief in their country to help with the rapidly increased famine problem in war torn Somalia.

Operation Restore Hope began as a U.S.-led Unified Task Force (UNITAF), but in April 1993, with President Clinton desperately wanting to extract the military presence in Somalia, he withdrew the Marines and turned over the mission to the United Nations. All that remained was a small logistical, aviation, and quick reaction force to assist. Warlords and their militia controlled the food distribution in their country and use starvation as their weapon. After the Marines left Somalia in June, the warlord General Mohamed Farrah Aidid had his militia slaughter Pakistani soldiers at a Somali weapons storage site and began targeting American personnel. As a result, a $25,000 reward for Aidid's arrest or information leading to his capture was issued by Admiral Howe.

Admiral Howe requested a rescue force from Washington D.C. With the violence increasing, there was a more extensive military force in need. The U.S. Army Rangers and elite Delta Force were soon sent for the requested support. In mid-June, the U.S. and U.N. began attacking targets in Mogadishu associated with Aidid. This included radio stations and ammunition depots. These attacks declared that General Aidid was now at war.

The escalation of violence increased. On July 12th, the Abdi house raid occurred. This was an attack led by the U.S. quick reaction forces. The Abdi house was surveilled and proper intelligence was given for the raid to commence. The house was known for its clan militia meetings. Even though Aidid rarely attended meetings and was not there on this date, other militia that were responsible for acts of violence towards the United Nations, United States and the slaughtering of the Pakistani soldiers were in attendance. The quick reaction force proceeded with their mission to raid. The intent was to assault the objective and to kill or capture the high command of Aidid’s militia and it was a success. This was not a turning point for the U.S. or United Nations, attacks and casualties were being taken from both sides regularly. Shortly after the Abdi house raid, near the end of July, Aidid went into hiding.

In late August 1993, U.S. Army Rangers and elite soldiers from Delta Force were sent to remove Mohamed Farrah Aidid and restore order to Somalia. The mission took longer than expected and resulted in a bloody urban battle in the militia filled city of Mogadishu. The assignment to remove Aidid was given to Task Force Ranger and the commander was Major General William F. Garrison. Task Force Ranger began their search for General Aidid and his top lieutenants, with great success. They relied on covert missions with quick execution using the shock of surprise to their benefit. The hunt for Aidid escalated when a Somali informant leads Task Force Ranger to the Olympic Hotel in the Bakara Market on October 3, 1993. Bakara Market is the most heavily armed region of Mogadishu. Task Force Ranger’s mission was supposed to take thirty to forty-five minutes long, would turn out to a seventeen hour battle for their lives. Underestimating Aidid’s militia at the Bakara Market proved to be the great mistake of Task Force Ranger even though the prior six missions were successful ones. Almost immediately when Task Force Ranger touched down at the Olympic Hotel, gun fire broke out everywhere and the cities