The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as “Black Hawk Down occurred during the Somalia Civil War in Mogadishu, Somalia. According to Battersby, Paul, Somalia’s President was overthrown by rebel groups from his own country. The country was divided by different groups that were all fighting to gain political control. (2009) One of the assemblies, led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid, was called the United Somali Congress.
In late 1991, conflict continued in the capital city of Mogadishu and throughout the country of Somalia. The civil unrest in the country led to greater concerns such as refugees, starvation, etc. for the vast majority of the country. From the beginning, the United States assisted the United Nations with humanitarian efforts. The United States goals drastically changed when the assembly groups began to steal the humanitarian deliveries. According to Alex, Dan, Tensions between the United Nations and the United States were mounting as Ambassador Howe of the United Nations put pressure on the United States Presidents administration to capture Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his leaders. (1993). During that time, the U.S. dispatched Army Rangers, Delta Force, and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also known as “Night Stalkers”, to assist in the conflict.
These three forces were handed a task to capture Aidid and his top advisors. Tasks such as a ground convoy, perimeter defense, and airlift entry/exit were divided among the three groups. When one of the black hawk helicopters arrived at the site where Aidid was believed to be, it was struck by a rocket propelled grenade, or RPG. The ground convoy team rushed to the crash site but found it difficult to maneuver the tight streets and road blocks that Somalis prepared. During this period, a second black hawk was struck and went down at a different crash site. The convoy team was instructed to head to the second site after extracting survivors form the first
Cited: 1. Battersby, Paul; Joseph M. Siracusa (2009). Globalization and human security. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 151. 2. Alex, Dan. "Battle of Mogadishu (1993)." Military Factory. N/A, 1 Jan. 2003. Web. 25 Oct. 2014. 3. Eversmann, Matthew (SSG) (2005). The Battle of Mogadishue: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger. Presidio Press pp. 99–100