Operation Gothic Serpent | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Somali Civil War and the UNOSOM II mission | |||||||
Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in Somalia, 1993. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William F. Garrison | Mohamed Farrah Aidid | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
B Co., 3rd Bn., 75th Ranger [6] C Sqn, 1st SFOD-D [6] 1st Bn., 160th SOAR [7] DEVGRU [6] 24th STS [8] ISA [9] | SNA militia | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
441 troops [10] 8 MH-60 Black Hawks 4 AH-6 4 MH-6 Little Birds [7] 3 OH-58 Kiowas 1 P-3 Orion [6] HMMWVs 5-ton trucks [11] | Several thousand militiamen and volunteers [12] Multiple technicals | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American force code-named Task Force Ranger during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farrah Aidid, leader of the Somali National Alliance who was wanted by the UNOSOM II in response to his attacks against United Nations troops. The operation took place from August to October 1993 and was led by US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).
On 3 October 1993, the task force executed a mission to capture two of Aidid's lieutenants. The mission ultimately culminated in what became known as the Battle of Mogadishu. The battle was extremely bloody and the task force inflicted significant casualties on Somali militia forces, while suffering heavy losses themselves. The Malaysian, Pakistani, and conventional US Army troops under UNOSOM II which aided in TF Ranger's extraction suffered losses as well, though not as heavy. The intensity of the battle prompted the effective termination of the operation on 6 October 1993. This was followed by the withdrawal of TF Ranger later in October 1993, and then the complete exit of American troops in early 1994. [2] [3] [1]
The repercussions of this encounter substantially influenced American foreign policy, culminating in the discontinuation of the UNOSOM II by March 1995. [5] At the time, the Battle of Mogadishu was the most intense, bloodiest single firefight involving US troops since Vietnam. [19] [20]
In December 1992, US President George H. W. Bush ordered the military to join the UN in a joint operation known as Operation Restore Hope, with the primary mission of restoring order in Somalia. The country had collapsed into civil war in 1991 and the following year a severe famine, induced by the fighting, broke out. Over the next several months, the situation deteriorated. [7]
During the early months of 1993, all the parties involved in the civil war agreed to a disarmament conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Enactment of the agreed upon terms, however, was not so easily achieved. [21] One powerful faction, the Somali National Alliance (SNA) led by Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid, formed in late 1992 and had become particularly anti-UNOSOM. [22] Major disagreements between the UN and the Somali National Alliance began soon after the establishment of UNOSOM II in March, centering on the perceived true nature of the operation's political mandate. By May 1993, relations between the SNA and UNOSOM would rapidly deteriorate. [23]
On 5 June 1993, one of the deadliest attacks on UN forces in Somalia occurred when 24 Pakistani soldiers were ambushed and killed in an SNA controlled area of Mogadishu. [24] Any hope of a peaceful resolution of the conflict quickly vanished. The next day, the UN Security Council issued Resolution 837, calling for the arrest and trial of those who carried out the ambush. US warplanes and UN troops began an attack on Aidid's stronghold. Aidid remained defiant, and the violence between Somalis and UN forces escalated. [25] A significant number of Somali civilians also resented international forces following incidents such as the June 1993 UN mass shooting of protesters and the 12 July 1993 Bloody Monday raid. These events and other incidents led significant numbers of civilians, including women and children, to take up arms and actively resist US and UNOSOM II forces during fighting in Mogadishu. [26]
Following the 12 July 1993 raid carried out by the US QRF force for UNOSOM II, the conflict began sharply escalating and SNA forces began deliberately targeting American forces in Somalia for the first time. According to US special envoy to Somalia Robert B. Oakley, "Before July 12th, the US would have been attacked only because of association with the UN, but the US was never singled out until after July 12th." [27] For the remainder of July firefights between the SNA and UNOSOM began occurring almost daily. [28] The SNA would put out a bounty for any American soldier or UN personnel killed, leading to a doubling of attacks against UNOSOM II forces. [27]
On 8 August 1993, Somali National Alliance militia detonated a remote controlled bomb against a US Army vehicle, killing four military policemen. [29] On 19 August, a second bomb attack injured four more soldiers. [30] And on 22 August, a third attack occurred, injuring 6 US soldiers. [31] In response, President Clinton approved Operation Gothic Serpent, which would deploy a 441 man special task force, named Task Force Ranger, to hunt down and capture Aidid. [10] [32] By this time, however, circumstances on the ground had changed significantly and Aidid was in hiding, no longer appearing publicly. [33]
On 22 August, advance forces were deployed to Somalia followed shortly after by the main force on 25 August. [34] TF Ranger, led by Major General William F. Garrison, was under JSOC. Thus, it was not under UN command or the command of US General Thomas M. Montgomery, the deputy commander of UNOSOM II forces as well as commander of US forces in Somalia. Instead, Garrison and TF Ranger received orders directly from CENTCOM. [35] [36] [37]
The force consisted of:
The task force had intelligence support from a joint effort between CIA officers and Intelligence Support Activity. [9]
In Mogadishu, the task force occupied an old hangar and construction trailers under primitive conditions, without access to potable water. [40]
Only days after arriving, on 28 August, Somali militia launched a mortar attack on the hangar at 19:27 which injured four Rangers. [10] These mortar attacks became a regular occurrence but rarely caused any further significant injuries. [41]
The task force launched its first raid at 03:09 on 30 August, hitting the Lig Ligato house. There, they captured 9 individuals along with weapons, drugs, communications gear, and other equipment. [10] They were highly embarrassed, however, when it was found out that the prisoners they had taken were actually UN employees. Regardless of the fact that the employees were in a restricted area and were found with weapons and drugs, the incident was ridiculed in the media. Colin Powell, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was reportedly so upset he "had to screw myself off the ceiling". [42]
Missions followed on 6 September, with a raid on an old Russian compound; 14 September, when they raided the Jialiou house/police station; 17 September, with a raid on Radio Mogadishu; 18 September, a raid on the garages of Osman Atto's (the Somali National Alliance's chief financier); and 21 September when they captured Osman Atto himself. [10] Local intelligence assets had given Atto a cane that concealed a hidden locating beacon. Delta operators tracked his vehicle convoy via helicopter and disabled Atto's vehicle with shots to its engine block before taking him into custody. This was also the first known takedown of a moving vehicle from a helicopter. [12]
To obfuscate when exactly a mission would occur, Garrison had the 160th SOAR conduct flights with soldiers aboard multiple times per day so militia could not rely solely on seeing helicopters to know that a raid was going to occur. [43] [44] They also varied their insertion and extraction tactics, using various permutations of ground vehicle and helicopter-based infil and exfil.
At approximately 0200 on 25 September, Aidid's men shot down a Black Hawk with an RPG and killed three crew members at New Port near Mogadishu, though the two pilots, who were both injured, managed to escape and evade to reach friendly units. Pakistani and US forces secured the area and were able to evacuate the casualties. [45] The helicopter and crew were from 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, [46] [47] [48] and not part of the Task Force Ranger mission, but the helicopter's destruction was still a huge psychological victory for the SNA. [49] [50]
On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, informed that two lieutenants of Aidid's clan were at a residence in the "Black Sea" neighborhood in Mogadishu, [51] the task force sent 19 aircraft, 12 vehicles, and 160 men to capture them. The two Somali lieutenants alongside 22 others were quickly captured and loaded on a convoy of ground vehicles. However, armed militiamen and civilians, some of them women and children, converged on the target area from all over the city. Shortly before the mission was to be concluded, an MH-60 Black Hawk, Super Six One, was shot down by SNA forces using a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Both of the pilots were killed on impact, but the crew survived the crash landing. [4]
Shortly afterward, another Black Hawk helicopter, Super Six Four, was shot down by an RPG fired from the ground. No rescue team was immediately available, and the small surviving crew, including one of the pilots, Michael Durant, couldn't move. Two Delta snipers, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, provided cover from a helicopter and repeatedly volunteered to secure the crash site. After a 10th Mountain relief force from the Mogadishu airport was halted and turned back by an SNA ambush, Shughart and Gordon were finally granted permission to be inserted. They made their way to the crash site, quickly establishing a perimeter, and securing the surviving crew. The Black Hawk wreck came under heavy attack from the Somali militia, despite attempts from the 160th helicopters overhead to hold back the crowd. After losing close air support to damage from RPG-7 fire, MSG Gordon, SFC Shughart, and the surviving crew of Super 64 were overrun and killed, save for CW3 Durant who was taken hostage. Shughart and Gordon were both posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions. [52] [53] [4]
Meanwhile, the remaining Rangers and Delta operators fought their way to the first crash site. Repeated attempts by the Somalis to overrun US positions were beaten back with heavy small arms fire accompanied by fierce close air support from helicopters. US gunships constantly engaged hostile forces throughout the night, eventually expending nearly 80,000 rounds of ammunition. [54] Consequently the helicopters have been credited with saving US forces from being overrun. [55]
A rescue convoy nearly 70 vehicles long was organized and bolstered by hundreds of UNOSOM II forces, [56] including the 19th Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment (Mech); [15] Pakistani 15 FF Regiment and a squadron of M48 Pattons from 19th Lancers; [57] and US Army 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division (which included elements of 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry; 41st Engineer Battalion; and 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation). [58] [59] [60] After hours of heavy combat with the Somalis, the rescue convoy broke through and extracted the besieged forces.
The mission's objective of capturing Aidid's associates was accomplished, but the battle turned out to be the most difficult close combat that US troops had engaged in since the Vietnam War. In the end, four MH-60 Black Hawks were shot down by SNA forces with two crashing in hostile territory. [18] 18 Americans were killed and 85–97 wounded along with dozens of UNOSOM troops. [13] [14] [5] [16] In total, the US forces would suffer an estimated 70% casualty rate from the battle. [61]
Two days after the battle's end, a Somali mortar strike on their compound killed one Delta Force operator and injured another 12–13 members of TF Ranger. [16] [5]
Somali casualties were estimated to be 314 killed and 812 wounded (including civilians), though figures greatly vary. [19]
The American public, outraged at the losses sustained, demanded a withdrawal. [19]
On 6 October 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton would personally order General Joseph P. Hoar to terminate all combat operations against Somali National Alliance, except in self defence. General Hoar would proceed to relay the stand down order to Generals William F. Garrison of Task Force Ranger and Thomas M. Montgomery of the American Quick Reaction Force. The following day on 7 October, Clinton publicly announced a major change in course in the mission. [62]
Substantial U.S. forces would be sent to Somalia as short term reinforcements, but all American forces would be withdrawn from the country by the end of March 1994. [63] He would firmly defend American policy in Somalia but admitted that it had been a mistake for American forces to be drawn into the decision "to personalize the conflict" to Aidid. He would go on to reappoint the former U.S. Special Envoy for Somalia Robert B. Oakley to signal the administrations return to focusing on political reconciliation. The stand down order given to U.S. forces in Somalia led other UNOSOM II contingents to effectively avoid any confrontation with the SNA. This led to the majority of UNOSOM patrols in Mogadishu to cease and numerous checkpoints in SNA controlled territory to be abandoned. [62]
On 9 October 1993, Special Envoy Robert B. Oakley arrived in Mogadishu to obtain the release of captured troops and to consolidate a ceasefire with the Somali National Alliance. [62] [64] Oakley and General Anthony Zinni would both engage in direct negotiations with representatives of the SNA. It was made clear that the manhunt was over, but that no conditions put forward by the SNA would be accepted for the release of prisoners of war. On 14 October, Aidid announced in a brief appearance on CNN the release of Black Hawk pilot Michael Durant. [62]
Three months later all SNA prisoners in U.N. custody were released including Aidid's lieutenants Omar Salad Elmi and Mohamed Hassan Awale, who had been the targets of the 3 October raid. [4]
US Secretary of Defense Les Aspin resigned his post late in 1993. He was specifically blamed for denying the US Army permission to have its own armor units in place in Somalia, units which might have been able to break through to the trapped soldiers earlier in the battle. US political leaders had, at the time, felt the presence of tanks would taint the peacekeeping image of the mission. [37]
Clinton expressed surprise that the Battle of Mogadishu had even occurred, [65] and later claimed that he had decided on a diplomatic solution before the incident. Despite his apparent reservations there had been no direct orders previously given to TF Ranger to halt operations against the SNA. [62]
The Somali National Alliance viewed the Battle of Mogadishu as a victory against the United States and UNOSOM II. [66] The victory ensured the pullout of US and UN forces and the end to the humanitarian aid which had rescued the country from famine. [67] [68] Osama bin Laden, who was living in Sudan at the time, cited this operation, in particular the US withdrawal, as an example of American weakness and vulnerability to attack. [69]
Mohamed Farrah Hasan Garad, popularly known as General Aidid or Aideed, was a Somali military officer and warlord.
Gary Ivan Gordon was a master sergeant in the United States Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. At the time of his death, he was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army's premier special operations unit, the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1SFOD-D), or "Delta Force". Together with his comrade, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, Gordon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993.
Randall David Shughart was a United States Army Delta Force operator who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu, during Operation Gothic Serpent in October 1993.
Black Hawk Down is a 2001 war film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and co-produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, from a screenplay by Ken Nolan. It is based on the 1999 eponymous non-fiction book by journalist Mark Bowden, about the crew of a Black Hawk helicopter that was shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu. The film features a large ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Piven, Ioan Gruffudd, Ewen Bremner, Hugh Dancy, and Tom Hardy in his first film role. Orlando Bloom, Ty Burrell, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also have minor roles.
The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down Incident, 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—against the forces of the Somali National Alliance (SNA) and armed irregulars of south Mogadishu.
April Catherine Glaspie is an American former diplomat and senior member of the Foreign Service, best known for her role in the events leading up to the Gulf War.
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War is a 1999 book by journalist Mark Bowden. It documents efforts by the Unified Task Force to capture Somali faction leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid in 1993, and the resulting battle in Mogadishu between United States forces and Aidid's militia. One of the key events is the downing of two United States MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, from which the book derives its title, and the attempt to rescue their crews. United States forces included 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment; 160th SOAR; Delta Force; 24th Special Tactics Squadron; DEVGRU Navy SEALs; 10th Mountain Division; as well as Malaysian and Pakistani United Nations peacekeeping forces.
William F. "Bill" Garrison is an retired American major general who commanded the United States forces during Operation Gothic Serpent, the military operation launched during the Somali Civil War in 1993 to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
The United Nations Operation in Somalia II was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia and took place from March 1993 until March 1995, following the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. UNOSOM II carried on from the transitory United States-controlled (UN-sanctioned) Unified Task Force (UNITAF), which had been preceded by UNOSOM I. Notably, UNOSOM II embarked on a nation-building mission, diverging from its predecessors. As delineated in UNSCR 814, the operation's objectives were to aid in relief provision and economic rehabilitation, foster political reconciliation, and re-establish political and civil administrations across Somalia.
Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid is the son of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid. His father was leader of the Somali National Alliance (SNA), the faction that fought UNOSOM II and US forces during 1993.
The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed Forces began engaging in combat against various armed rebel groups, including the Somali Salvation Democratic Front in the northeast, the Somali National Movement in the Somaliland War of Independence in the northwest, and the United Somali Congress in the south. The clan-based armed opposition groups overthrew the Barre government in 1991.
The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative, UNITAF was charged with carrying out United Nations Security Council Resolution 794 to create a protected environment for conducting humanitarian operations in the southern half of the country.
Michael Dane Steele is a retired colonel of the United States Army. He was a company commander in the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment during the Battle of Mogadishu (1993) in Somalia during Operation Gothic Serpent, which resulted in the now famous book and film Black Hawk Down, wherein he was portrayed by actor Jason Isaacs. He briefly appears in the documentary I Am an American Soldier.
The Somali National Alliance was a major politico-military faction formed on 16 June 1992 by four different rebel groups that had been in opposition to the regime of former Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre. The SNA was the first major inter-clan and inter-factional political alliance and was considered to be among the most powerful factions of the Somali Civil War. The alliance would most notably face off against the second phase of the United Nations Operation in Somalia in the latter half of 1993.
The Mogadishu Line is the point at which foreign involvement in a conflict shifts from peacekeeping or diplomacy to combat operations. The term often comes about in reference to the reluctance of international actors to intervene militarily in another state for humanitarian reasons. This reluctance comes about from fears that meaningful political changes may not be achievable without military actions, but that the military actions would be at odds with the diplomatic or humanitarian purposes and may become a bloody debacle.
Thomas M. Montgomery is an American soldier who retired from the United States Army in 1997 at the rank of Lieutenant General. A native of Indiana and graduate of Indiana University, he entered military service in 1963 and commanded an armored company during the Vietnam War, during which he was decorated with the Silver Star for gallantry in the face of the enemy. During the Somali Civil War, he served as deputy commander of the military element of UNOSOM II and would later spend three years as U.S. representative to the NATO Military Committee.
Baledogle Airfield, also called Wanlaweyn Airstrip, is the largest military air base in Somalia, about 90 kilometers northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. The airfield was constructed in the 1970s for the Somali Air Force with assistance of the Soviet Union. It was later expanded on and modernized by the United States during the 2010s.
The Bloody Monday raid, also known as the Abdi House raid or Operation Michigan, was a US military operation that took place in Mogadishu on 12 July 1993, during the United Nations Operation in Somalia II phase of the UN intervention in the Somali Civil War. Carried out by American QRF troops on behalf of UNOSOM II, the raid was the war's deadliest incident in Mogadishu to that point and a turning point in the UN operation. It inflamed anti-UN and anti-American sentiments among Somalis, galvanizing the insurgency that the US military faced during the Battle of Mogadishu three months later.
The June 5th 1993 attack on the Pakistani military was a major confrontation that occurred concurrently in different parts of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, between Somali citizens & militias against the Pakistani peacekeeping contingent of UNOSOM II.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress .