The battle of Mogadishu, 3–4 October 1993 (Maalintii Rangers)

In short

On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, US special forces raided a building near the Olympic Hotel, close to Bakara Market in Mogadishu. Their aim was to capture two senior aides of General Mohamed Farah Aidid. Somali fighters shot down two US Black Hawk helicopters, and the fighting lasted through the night (US Army Center of Military History, The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994, CMH Pub 70-81-1, pp. 18–23).

Eighteen US soldiers and one Malaysian soldier were killed. Human Rights Watch reported that "several hundred Somalis may have been killed" (Human Rights Watch, World Report 1994). The battle is known in Somali as Maalintii Rangers, "the day of the Rangers". The wider UN and US mission is told in the UN and US intervention, 1992–1995.

Why the raid happened

• 5 June 1993. Forces of Aidid's Somali National Alliance (SNA) ambushed UN troops in south Mogadishu. The US Army history gives 24 Pakistani soldiers killed and 44 wounded (CMH, p. 16). The next day UN Security Council resolution 837 called for the arrest of those responsible (UN, UNOSOM II background).
• June 1993. US AC-130 gunships attacked weapons stores and Radio Mogadishu, Aidid's radio station. On 17 June the UN envoy, Admiral Jonathan Howe, issued a warrant for Aidid's arrest with a $25,000 reward (CMH, p. 16).
• 12 July 1993. US helicopters attacked a meeting at an Aidid compound. A crowd then killed four foreign journalists who came to report on it (CMH, p. 16). Human Rights Watch reported that the Red Cross counted at least 54 dead in the raid (HRW 1994).
• 8 August 1993. A mine killed four US military police (CMH, p. 17).
• 22 August 1993. The US defence secretary sent a special force, Task Force Ranger, "capturing Aideed and his key lieutenants and turning them over to UNOSOM II forces" (CMH, pp. 17–18). It answered to US command, not to the UN.

From late August the task force carried out six raids in Mogadishu. In one it captured Osman Atto, Aidid's financial aide. In another it mistakenly raided a UN office (CMH, p. 18). On 25 September SNA fighters shot down a US Black Hawk with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing three soldiers (CMH, p. 19).

3 October: the raid

The task force left the airport at about 15:30 by helicopter and road convoy. By 15:42 it reached the target near the Olympic Hotel and detained 24 Somalis (CMH, p. 19).

Fire from the surrounding streets was heavier than in earlier raids. A Black Hawk was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed a few blocks away. A second Black Hawk was shot down less than a mile further south (CMH, pp. 19–21).

At the second crash site, the US history records that a crowd "overran" the position and killed all the defenders except the pilot, Michael Durant, who was taken prisoner. Two US soldiers who defended the site were later given the Medal of Honor (CMH, p. 21).

The night and the "Mogadishu Mile"

US soldiers held buildings around the first crash site through the night, under fire, while helicopter gunships fired on the streets around them (CMH, pp. 21–23). A US convoy carrying the detainees could not find the site and returned to base after heavy losses.

A relief column of more than 60 vehicles was put together with Pakistani tanks and Malaysian armoured carriers. It reached the first crash site at 01:55 on 4 October. At dawn the soldiers left on foot and in the carriers, under fire, and reached the Pakistani-held stadium by about 06:30 (CMH, pp. 22–23).

The dead and wounded

The US Army history says that "various estimates placed Somali casualties between 500 and 1,500" (CMH, p. 23). Human Rights Watch reported that the Red Cross called Aidid's figures "plausible" (HRW 1994).

What followed

• 6 October 1993. President Bill Clinton ordered US forces to stop all actions against Aidid except in self-defence. He sent the envoy Robert Oakley back to Somalia, and announced that all US forces would leave by 31 March 1994 (CMH, p. 24).
• 9 October 1993. Aidid's side declared a unilateral ceasefire with the UN (UN, UNOSOM II background).
• 14 October 1993. Aidid released Durant and a Nigerian soldier captured earlier, as what he called a "goodwill gesture" (CMH, p. 24). Human Rights Watch noted that the Red Cross visited both men while they were held (HRW 1994).
• March 1994 and March 1995. US forces left by March 1994. The last UN troops left Mogadishu in March 1995 (UN, UNOSOM II background).

The US Army history calls the battle "a watershed in U.S. involvement in Somalia" (CMH, p. 23).

Who suffered?

• Somali residents of the Bakara and Olympic Hotel area, where the fighting took place in "a densely populated area of narrow streets" (HRW 1994). The dead included fighters and civilians; the sources linked here do not separate the two.
• US and UN soldiers, 19 killed on 3–4 October and dozens wounded (CMH, p. 23).
• The families of the dead on both sides. The US Army history describes the bodies of US soldiers "being dragged through the streets" afterwards (CMH, introduction).

Sources differ

• Somali dead and wounded. Aidid's side gave 315 dead and 812 wounded. The US Army history cites estimates of 500 to 1,500 Somali casualties. Human Rights Watch reported "several hundred" dead.
• Malaysian dead. The US Army history gives 2 killed; Human Rights Watch gives 1.
• The purpose of the raid. The US Army history says it aimed to capture two of Aidid's "key lieutenants". Human Rights Watch described it as an armed sweep, "ostensibly in search of weapons".
• Who was fighting. The US history speaks of Somali "militia" and "mobs". It does not separate armed SNA fighters from residents who joined in.

Read the primary sources yourself

• US Army Center of Military History, The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994, CMH Pub 70-81-1 (Richard W. Stewart, about 2002): PDF.
• United Nations, UNOSOM II: background: text.
• Human Rights Watch, World Report 1994, Somalia chapter: text.