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Black Hawk Down - Battle of Mogadishu

The cause of the turmoil

Black Hawk Down - Battle of Mogadishu

Civil War footage

After the fall of the Siad regime in 1991, Somalia was caught up in a situation of warlordism, and the life of the country's fragmented people was even more difficult.

In just a few months, the civil war killed 20,000 people, the wounded were unable to make accurate counts, and thousands of families lost their homes.

Relentless civil wars have destroyed already fragile food supply chains, and massive famines began at the same time. It can be said that the Somali civil war has completely torn apart the country.

In response to this humanitarian catastrophe, dozens of UN member states began to provide substantial assistance to Somalia. The purpose is to help ordinary people who need help.

Black Hawk Down - Battle of Mogadishu

United Nations relief supplies

The problem arose, because the warlords were too powerful, and the humanitarian goods received by the residents were taken away by the warlords, and they were forced to adopt Resolution 794 of the United Nations Security Council on December 3, 1991.

The main element is to send peacekeeping troops to Somalia to create a safe environment for the next humanitarian relief to ensure that relief supplies can be distributed in full to ordinary people.

In July 1992, the United Nations dispatched 50 military observers to Somalia, one of whose tasks were to oversee the distribution of aid, especially food.

The United States also deployed 400 U.S. troops to Mombasa, Kenya, through ten C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, with the mission of ensuring that aid could be delivered to more remote areas of Somalia.

The arrival of the United Nations peacekeeping force is obviously the cheese of the Somali warlords, and it is necessary to know that the purpose of these warlords robbing resources is to exchange weapons, and the emergence of The emergence of United Nations peacekeeping forces is naturally unpopular.

Black Hawk Down - Battle of Mogadishu

Farah Aideed

The standoff also became grim in December, with the most hostile of these being the Somali warlord Farah Aideed, who has long viewed unprofessional forces as enemies.

In June 1993, Farah Aideed's men ambushed a United Nations peacekeeper, killing four American soldiers. Unable to bear it, US President Clinton immediately decided to send "green berets" to Somalia.

The top commander of the mission was General Garison, the head of Delta Force, whose forces included the 75th Ranger Regiment, SEAL Sixth, and Delta Special Forces.

The target of the mission was a small three-storey building in Mogadishu, where two of Aideid's top assistants, Oma Sharan, and external spokesman Monhami Hassan Awa, were present, according to the informant.

Task scheduling

The U.S. military first dispatched MH-6 Bird helicopters to determine the mission objectives, and then the Black Hawk helicopters carried special operators to quickly descend and surround the buildings in this area.

Meanwhile, nine highly mobile units on the ground, driving multi-purpose wheeled vehicles, Humvees and heavy military trucks, were moving rapidly toward the building with the aim of capturing Umar Sharan and Monhami Hassan Awa and escorting them back to U.S. military bases.

The entire operation of the US military a total of 19 helicopters, 12 special vehicles and 160 US special forces, it can be said that the US military combat mission is very clear that is, "quick battle and quick decision".

The action begins

Black Hawk Down - Battle of Mogadishu

Black Hawk helicopter in combat

On October 3, 1993, after intelligence personnel repeatedly verified the accurate information of the target's location with "informants" by radio, the U.S. special forces began to operate.

At 3:32 p.m., AH-6 "Little Bird" and MH-60K "Black Hawk" helicopters carrying members of the special forces quickly took off from a temporary airfield near the coast, and the ground special convoy also drove out of the barracks.

At first everything went very smoothly, delta special forces did not take much effort to arrest 24 prisoners, but as they prepared to evacuate, an accident occurred suddenly.

First, a Ranger named Blackburn fell and was seriously injured as he slid down from the helicopter, and then groups of Somalis in the city pounced on the Americans.

The group had not only AK47s in their hands, but also shoulder-resistant RPG rockets, and in the chaotic battle two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and Captain Durham was captured.

There were also about 90 U.S. Rangers and Delta Force members on the battlefield, surrounded by swarms of Somali militias.

On this long sleepless night, a group of tired American soldiers had to take care of their wounded comrades and guard against the Somali militia ready to rush up, and gradually their ammunition was running out and their physical strength had reached its limit.

But they had no choice but to stay where they were until rescue arrived. Finally, before dawn, reinforcements braved the rain of bullets and bullets to come to the already exhausted American troops.

Battle results

Black Hawk Down - Battle of Mogadishu

Sacrifice of Delta Force members

The U.S. army was killed 19, captured, wounded more than 70, shot down two helicopters, wounded 3, and destroyed several trucks and Humvee vehicles.

On the Somali side, up to three thousand people were killed by the US military, and countless people were wounded, most of them ordinary people who had nothing to do with the war.

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