Full 30 years ago, on December 9, 1992, the U.S. Marine Corps landed in Mogadishu. The largest UN peacekeeping operation in history, "Operation Restoring Hope", began like this.

30 years ago, on December 9, 1992, US Marine Corps logged in Mogadishu . The largest UN peacekeeping operation in history " Recover Hope Action " began like this. Its goal is to bring order to Somalia , respond to humanitarian disasters, and rebuild the country.

In less than a year, the United Nations contingent will be involved in an armed confrontation with Mohamed Farah Eidid, and the battle in Mogadishu in early October 1993 will be in history as a major failure of the U.S. armed forces. The Americans later tried to catch Edid , but everything did not go as planned immediately. What was supposed to end in an hour dragged out for a day.

Adid was never taken away. The U.S. contingent was trapped in the city. 18 Americans were killed, one was captured, and 74 were injured, which survived thanks to the help of Pakistani and Malaysian troops.

So how did the UN peacekeeping force get involved in Somali Civil War ? Why is this country still a symbol of destruction and chaos 30 years after this decision?

Post-colonial Somalia

Somalia is a place full of chaos and anarchy. But that's not always the case.

html At the beginning of the 120th century, this land was colonized by the Italians and the British. After World War II , all its territory was controlled by London. In 1960, the Republic of Somalia was founded. Since its first year of its establishment, this young country has relied on establishing friendly relations with the Soviet Union. In 1961, its first Prime Minister, Abdirashid Ali Shemak, visited Moscow , seeking economic support. The Soviet government promised to help develop agriculture, find minerals, and drill wells to get water.

As time goes by, the cooperation deepens. After the military coup of Mohammed Siad Barre , Somalia attempted to establish socialist with Islamic characteristics. The country received military aid from the Soviet Union, and thousands of Soviet experts helped develop industries and infrastructure. In exchange for this aid, the Soviet Union established a naval base in Berbera .

As China's strength continues to increase, its leadership's appetite is getting bigger and bigger. In neighboring countries—Ethiopia , Kenya and Djibouti —there are Somali communities, and Mohamed Siad Barre has not given up on the hope of expanding his country’s territory. All of this led to a conflict with Ethiopia.

Doom of Destruction

1977, Somalia's army invaded Ethiopia with the aim of annexing Ogaden, the Somalian leader believed to be his own border area. Ethiopia was an important, most important, stable ally of the Soviet Union in the region, so Somalia quickly lost the Soviet Union's military, technical and economic support. The efforts to win the support of the United States were fruitless, and after a year of war, Ethiopia defeated the Somali army with the support of the Soviet Union and Cuba . For Somalia, this failure is the beginning of a chaos. The power of the president has been shaken. An attempted coup in 1978, and a slow civil war broke out in northern Somalia in 1982. Rebels, who called themselves the "Somali National Movement", were determined to overthrow the Bare regime, and Ethiopia supported them by providing equipment, weapons and base land.

988, the rebels managed to take over the second largest city in Somalia, Hargesa . Government forces responded with shelling, destroying about 70% of the buildings. But it is impossible to solve the problem by force - the crisis is intensifying. Several large armed formations emerged from fragments of government forces at the same time, Barre was overthrown, and Somalia no longer existed as a single state.

After Barre was overthrown, General Mohamed Farah Eidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, who was elected as interim president by the Somalia United Congress, focused their greatest influence in their hands.Despite their initial joint opposition to Barre, the confrontation between Mohammed and Edid quickly became an armed conflict with , and Mogadishu was the center of the conflict—the city was controlled partly by Edid and partly by Mohammed. Meanwhile, the Somalia National Front launched an offensive led by relatives of the former president.

Humanitarian disaster

Even before the civil war, Somalia experienced drought-related famines more than once. After the war broke out, the situation became very critical due to a huge wave of refugees and damaged infrastructure. The United Nations intervened in an attempt to resolve the Somalia crisis. In January 1992, the Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the country, and a few months later, the first phase of UNSOA was established. The purpose of this task is to ensure the delivery of food and essential medicine to prevent large-scale deaths due to hunger. In the first phase, the United Nations managed to achieve a ceasefire between Aidid and Mohammed under mediation by the African Union and Gulf States.

The United Nations has sent a delegation of non-armed observers to Somalia to monitor compliance with the agreement and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid . But it soon became obvious that neither party intends to fulfill the agreement. Leaders of armed groups refuse to let the mandatory materials pass through the territory they control. At best, they pass the tribute; at worst, they simply seize and misappropriate the goods.

In the summer of 1992, a Pakistani peacekeeping battalion was deployed to Mogadishu but failed to complete the task. The local armed groups, mainly General Aidid's men, hindered their activities and engaged in armed conflicts with peacekeepers. On October 28, Aidid completely banned the Pakistani camp from entering Mogadishu. The situation has been complicated by the fact that the United Nations mission cannot rely on any other political power in the country. Aidid's opponent, Mohammed, also opposed continuing his mission, and even fired fire at the ships carrying food into the port of Mogadishu.

Recover Hope

In response, UN Security Council adopted resolution 794, authorizing peacekeeping contingents to use all available force to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, while also creating a peacekeeping contingent team led by the United States of America, composed of more than 20 countries. It is believed that the United States will take over security, and the United Nations will continue to be responsible for providing humanitarian assistance and reaching political solutions.

This operation was called "Recovery Hope" in the first phase, and it successfully unfolded - peacekeeping contingents occupied the key points and established military bases in Somalia. Unimpeded humanitarian assistance was provided and a network of schools and hospitals was opened. The country's mission for the first phase of reconstruction appears to have been completed, and UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Boutros-Galli suggested that the Security Council should not be limited to humanitarian tasks but should proceed to restore central power in Somalia. In May 1993, the first phase of UNSOA was replaced by the second phase of UNSOA's "Continue Hope", but the leadership was in the hands of the United Nations, not the United States.

From the very beginning, the United Nations Mission Command decided to forcibly disarm all groups in Somalia. In addition, " peacekeeping personnel" were allowed to open fire on Somali soldiers who refused to put down their weapons. In fact, the second phase of UNSOO immediately began to take action without seeking support from local allies.

Although most of the US troops have been evacuated, the total number of peacekeeping contingents in Somalia is 28,000, which is a powerful military force. However, in fact, the State Task Force is not affiliated with the Central Command. They set their own goals and identified means to achieve them. General Aidid initially disagreed with the presence of UN peacekeepers and was ready to escalate directly. Now, he felt weak and began to act decisively. On 5 June 1993, his troops clashed with peacekeeping forces for the first time when a Pakistani detachment attempted to capture a city radio station. 23 Pakistani soldiers died in a gun battle.

In response to Edid's armed resistance, the United States formed a commando to carry out targeted special operations against General Edid and his supporters. Paradoxically, however, they did so just strengthened his reputation – the more the peacekeeping forces were seen as occupiers, the more Aided was like a sovereign fighter of Somalia.

United Nations peacekeeping operation turned into a war with Aidid. In fact, since the United Nations has become one of the players in the conflict, it is impossible to try to help reconcile the parties. Conflicts between peacekeepers and Aidid's armed forces are becoming increasingly frequent, and conflicts escalate into a cycle of escalating violence.

"The first official authorized assassination in the history of the United Nations"

The so-called Michigan operation is the only way to the second phase of UNSOA. The leaders of the United Nations mission proposed a plan to end the war, which prioritized the arrest or elimination of General Aidid. Some even offered a reward to capture him.

On July 12, 1993, elders of various Somalia tribes gathered at the villa of Abdi Awale, who served as Minister of the Interior in Aidid government, seeking ways to resolve the growing conflict between Aidid's Somalia National Alliance (SNA) and the United Nations peacekeeping forces. Sheikh Mohammed Iman Aden, who organized the meeting, met with the United Nations Special Representative for Somalia, Zhang Kefan Hao, shortly before the meeting to discuss a peaceful resolution. However, an CIA report said that Aidid was expected to visit the villa that day, so UNOOSCO decided to conduct a raid.

At 10:18 am, 17 American helicopters surrounded the villa and opened fire. They fired a total of 16 missiles, , and 2200 20mm caliber shells. About 100 people were on the scene at the time of the strike, which resulted in the deaths of several women who served tea at the rally, children playing in the yard and conference delegates. Air strikes followed by ground attacks. The assault platoon entered the villa and arrested the supreme leader of the Somalia National Union. According to Hussein Sanjeeh witnesses, the U.S. military killed 15 survivors. However, the second phase of UNSOA denied the allegations, and a Reuters , a reporter from the who witnessed the ground attack claimed that after the platoon entered the building, he heard the sound of automatic weapons fire in the compound.

United Nations Operation 2 report said that seven people died, all men and combatants, allegedly gathered together to plan to attack the United Nations contingent. ICRC later said 54 people died and 161 were injured and were treated in two major hospitals in Mogadishu. Given the Islamic tradition of burying the dead on the same day, and considering that not all the injured were admitted to these two hospitals, the casualties were definitely much higher.

This incident was immediately called "Bloody Monday" by the media, which attracted widespread attention from the international community. The African Union calls on UN missions to review its methods, and U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd demands that U.S. troops return from Somalia. The mission itself was divided as Italy and France refused to participate in further anti-Aidid operations.

The greatest impact of Operation Michigan was felt in Somalia, with thousands of people taking to the streets to protest the existence of the United Nations as the second phase of UNOSOF task force in Mogadishu actually found itself surrounded. The Sovereign National League, which had been preparing for peace talks before this, issued a statement on July 12 saying it would continue to fight "until the last colonial soldier of the United Nations left." Later, it promised to give cash rewards to those who killed American soldiers or members of the United Nations mission.

Bloody Monday completely disrupted the political situation in Somalia. Even Edid's opponents no longer have the ability to support UN forces.

However, the second phase of UNSOA command is reluctant to give up its plan.

Black Hawk Down

On October 3, 1993, the US Commando was going to carry out a seemingly simple task to capture Aidid in Mogadishu. Delta Force should be fixed with ropes on the roof of the building where Aidid met with the Minister of Interior Abdi Hassan Awale, overwhelmed all resistance forces and arrested them. A company of the 75th Commando Regiment will ensure the safety of the surrounding area, and a column of two trucks and nine Hummer will arrive at the building to transfer the commando and their prisoners. This should be a simple and straightforward operation, completed within an hour. The soldiers didn't even bring night vision goggles or water. The attack of that nature took several minutes to complete, and the unprepared enemy was so scared that he dared not resist.

However, this time, things did not go as planned. Delta forces raided the roof and arrested two ministers of the Aidid government, but one of the soldiers fell on the street and suffered a back injury. The Ranger , which should have defended the surrounding security, encountered organized resistance from large-scale militia units and was forced to engage in fierce battles.

ground evacuation convoy successfully reached the building despite the fire, where it split as three Hummer were immediately sent back to evacuate the injured Delta operator to the base. As the remaining vehicles are ready to receive the evacuee, a Hummer and a truck are hit by an RPG grenade. There are almost no enough vehicles left for the commando.

This is just the beginning. A Black Hawk was shot down by an RPG launched from the roof. Evacuation of surviving crews through ground convoys is extremely difficult, as some vehicles have left with injured Delta soldiers. Decided to divide the Rangers into two groups. Some of them stayed to provide cover for the evacuation, while the other part split into small strands and began walking towards the downed helicopter.

Meanwhile, a medical team was sent to the Black Hawk crash site via a helicopter. Together with the Rangers, they prepared temporary defensive positions and waited for evacuation. The Black Hawk, who was transporting the medical search and rescue team, was destroyed by enemy artillery fire and was forced to return to the base.

th thing didn't end there. An hour later, a second helicopter was hit. The pilot tried to return to the base, but the tail rotor component disintegrated and the Black Hawk crashed in a residential area. Ranger Command does not have a second rescue team that can be dispatched by helicopters. Two Delta snipers volunteered to insert into the second crash site to provide fire support to the crew, but were shot dead after an hour of battle, while the only surviving crew, Warrant Officer Michael Durant, who was flying the helicopter, was captured by the Somali .

The second rescue team consists of 22 vehicles and all soldiers, including staff officers and chefs, were sent to rescue the besieged troops. However, it failed to reach the crash site and two American columns had to leave Mogadishu before dusk. More than 100 Delta Special Forces personnel and the 75th Assault Regiment continued to defend the crash site.

This starts to look like a disaster. Two helicopters were shot down, and the other three were severely damaged. The U.S. military was no longer able to provide air evacuation and had to seek help from UNSOA. A convoy of Malaysian and Pakistani armored vehicles drove into the city, and by 6:30 a.m., all surviving peacekeeping troops were evacuated.

Following the failure of October 3-4, the UN Mission reached a ceasefire agreement with Aidid, which actually marked the end of efforts to establish a political regime in Somalia. US President Bill Clinton announced the withdrawal of troops. The American public refuses to support a useless and unsuccessful war. International news is full of photos of a group of smug thugs dragging the body of a dead US Special Forces soldier through the streets of Mogadishu with ropes.

In the final stage of "restore hope", the UN forces are completely focused on humanitarian issues, as all efforts to control Somalia by force have failed. In the United States, all other peacekeeping missions left the country in 1995. Somalia's crushing defeat dealt a heavy blow to the authority of the United Nations and raised the issue of limiting the use of force on peacekeepers.