Battle Of Mogadishu Facts: Everything That You Need To Know

The Battle of Mogadishu is a famous battle that was fought in 1993.

The Battle of Mogadishu was fought between forces of the U.S. military and Somali forces. This battle has been recorded to be one of the most iconic battles of modern-day warfare.

This battle has been stated to be chaotic warfare that escalated quickly. But what are the stats of the Battle of Mogadishu? What really happened in that battle? How many soldiers were killed instantly? Read on to uncover the amazing details about this famous battle.

Significance Of The Battle Of Mogadishu

The Battle of Mogadishu was fought 29 years ago. This battle provided independence to Somalia, but at a very heavy cost. This true story has been rendered into both a book and a movie, famously known as 'Black Hawk Down'.

Somali was under the degraded reign of President Mohamed Siad Barre, who was eventually overthrown by opposing clans. This incident led to the dispersion of the Somali National Army, which then joined forces with different Somali Warlords.

There were a total of four opposing groups that were fighting for political control, namely: USC (Unites Somali Congress); SSDF (Somali Salvation Democratic Front); SPM (Somali Patriotic Movement), and SDM (Somali Democratic Movement).

The USC was further divided into two sections: one controlled by Ali Mahdi Muhammad, and the other led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid. These groups initiated the Somali Civil War. But a ceasefire was decided between them in June 1991, although it didn't last for long.

There was a fifth group, SNM (Somali National Movement) which mainly operated in the northwestern part of Somalia. They declared independence in their area sometime around late June and named it Somaliland.

Later on that year in September, a war broke out in the capital, Mogadishu. This war continued for months and was responsible for the death and injuries of 20,000 Somali civilians.

Somali's agriculture was highly damaged because of this, which resulted in a famine. Food supplies were being sent to Somali by the United Nations and other international communities.

The problem started when these food supplies were being hijacked by local group leaders or warring factions, who offered weapons to other countries in exchange for food. Thus, the people of Somalia were left without food, and around 300,000 individuals died while millions suffered.

At that time, the United States government decided to provide proper protection to the food being supplied in accordance with the United Nations.

Three million people who were starving were provided food because of the 10 C-130s, and 400 men who were deployed by the United States government to safely hand over food supplies to the people. This mission of providing food was called 'Operation Provide Relief', which started in August 1992.

When even this mission seemed insufficient to provide for the people, the U.S. Government started 'Operation Restore Hope' in alliance with the United Nations.

The U. S. Marine Corps was deployed in Mogadishu. They helped secure the city and provide medical supplies and aid to Somali civilians.

The U.N. decided to change their mission statement from providing relief effort. In addition to this, they initiated a conference on March 15, 1993, in which all 15 Somali parties agreed to establish a democratic state. But Somali warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, disagreed to reconcile and ordered his men to prepare for war.

He also started broadcasting hate speech against the U.S. through radios and televisions. He invaded the Pakistani troops responsible for storing the arms to maintain peace and ambushed them in June 1993.

The U.S. Marines assisted the mission and were responsible for the arrest of Aidid and his high-ranked officers. All these events led to the start of the Battle Of Mogadishu, which was basically done to get rid of the corrupt Somalian government and establish peace and democracy.

Moreover, the United Nations tried to help eradicate the starvation that was spreading throughout Somalia.

How long did the Battle Of Mogadishu last?

The Battle of Mogadishu was supposed to be a stealth mission that extended longer than expected and turned out to be devastating. Read on to discover the reason for this infamous battle.

The Battle of Mogadishu started at 3:42 on October 3, 1993 and lasted until 6:30 on October 4, 1993. The mission, which was originally supposed to be a 'one-hour mission', went wrong after the initial phase.

The complete battle lasted for around 15 hours and many individuals lost their lives. Although the battle ended on October 4, 1993, one soldier, Michael Durant, was taken as a prisoner by the Somali armed men.

Michael Durant was released 11 days after the battle when Robert Oakley went and negotiated with the Somali civilians. Michael Durant was awarded the Purple Heart, Flying Cross, and the Service Medal for his deeds. The Somali Civil War had escalated and now formed into a war against the U.S military forces.

Why did the Battle Of Mogadishu happen?

The Battle of Mogadishu didn't happen for any one particular reason. This spine-chilling true story was built up due to various reasons that escalated at one particular time. The Battle of Mogadishu was slated to happen after the event of what the Somali civilians call 'Black Monday'.

'Black Monday' happened on July 12, 1993, during which, the U.S. military, consisting of ground troops and air support, was ordered to kill or find Aidid. To find Aidid, the American forces raided the house of Aidid's Interior Minister, Abdi Awale.

The target building was attacked with TOW Missiles by American Cobra helicopters. Per the notes provided by a Somali civilian, American ground soldiers shot 15 survivors with pistols, although this statement is denied by American commanders.

Aidid might not have been there in the building that day, but the incident took the lives of 54 civilians and left many others injured. This incident broke the trust that Somali civilians had in the American forces and united them against the U.S.

In retaliation to this event, many bombs were detonated by Aidid to kill U.S. military forces. Instigated by these events, President Clinton released a troop of special Task Force Rangers, which consisted of 400 U.S. Army Ranger and Delta Force soldiers.

Preliminary to the shooting of Black Hawk helicopters on October 3, 1993, the followers of Aidid had already shot down a Black Hawk using rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPGs) on September 25, 1993. This was the final reason that led the U.S.

Task Force Rangers, which consisted of soldiers from the U.S. Air Force, American forces of Army Rangers, and Navy troops, to plan and attack a building where Aidid and his fellow supporters were meeting.

Rangers flew to the outskirts of the city where Aidid and two of his top lieutenants of his Habar Gidir group were supposed to meet. The Task Force Rangers was comprised of 160 Delta Force and Army Ranger soldiers, 10 aircraft, and 12 ground convoy vehicles.

On the day of the mission, that is on October 3, 1993, rangers flew to the target site around 3:42 and began the assault. Black Hawk helicopters were assigned for the task, therefore, two of them were present there.

The Delta Force jolted down the Little Bird helicopter to secure the perimeter. One of the Black Hawk helicopters was stationed one block north ahead from the station.

The ground convoy was supposed to arrive ten minutes after the Delta Force and Army Rangers completed their mission. The initial mission was a success, but there was a significant escalation in the situation, as the Task Force Rangers were obstructed from returning back to headquarters. The Task Force was attacked by Somali fighters and civilians.

The first Black Hawk helicopter was shot at around 4:20, both the pilot and co-pilot were killed. Two crewmembers were heavily wounded and the rest of them continued to defend themselves.

The crash site was being fired at continuously, and Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant Randy Shughart were killed while protecting the survivors of the crash site. The combat search and rescue force was deployed to save the survivors.

At around 4:40, the second Black Hawk helicopter was shot down (due to several rocket attacks), which was being controlled by pilot, Michael Durant. The second Black Hawk crashed, and the crewmembers started to face heavy firing from the militants.

Michael Durant was taken as a prisoner by the Somali fighters. The rest of the rescue force was trapped in for the night, and the battle to save the pilot and crash survivors continued.

The relief convoy carrying parts of the task force and soldiers from Pakistani and Malaysian forces arrived at the site around 2:00 on October 4, 1993. The rescue convoy was forced into the city with the help of close air support from Black Hawks, armored vehicles, and tanks. They were successful in recovering the soldiers who were trapped.

The trapped soldiers had been rescued by 6:30 on October 4, 1933.

The battle had ended, but Aidid was nowhere to be found.

Since the vehicles didn't have sufficient seats to take all of the soldiers, a troop of soldiers had to walk a mile on foot to reach the rescue base, which was on the opposite side of a soccer stadium (the true story is different from the one shown in the 'Black Hawk Down' movie).

That 1 mi (1.60 km) walk, later on, was known as the 'Mogadishu Mile'.

Who won the Battle Of Mogadishu?

The result of the battle was devastating for both sides, since a lot of casualties were faced by both sides. This section will provide details on the aftermath of the battle.

The U.S. military was successful in capturing the fellow lieutenants of Aidid, but Aidid was nowhere to be found. The deaths of 19 U.S. military individuals were recorded after the battle. Two soldiers from these 19 men belonged to the lost platoon.

73 other soldiers were heavily wounded in the battle. One soldier from the Malaysian forces was killed and seven were injured. The Pakistani forces lost one soldier, and 10 others went missing after the Battle of Mogadishu.

Afghan refugees were aided in being evacuated by U.N troops. Somali casualties were very high in number. It is estimated that around 2,000-3,000 Somali people had died during the battle.

The Clinton administration decided to pull out his forces from Somalia after this battle. This whole operation changed the mindset of the U.S. military regarding combat operations.

Somalia remains to be a disputed country filled with militants. Al-Qaeda is also known to run many missions from Somalia. In 2016, there have been reports of targeted killings in Somalia for the spies who worked with the government.