Operation Restore Hope was an United Nations resolution that was designed to end widespread starvation in some countries, particularly those in civil war. Somalia was one of the United Nations’ targets. Operation Restore Hope, an initiative by the United Nations was started by the United States twenty-eight year ago.
The U.S. uses secure and safe trade routes to transport food products to Somalian communities. The United States government claims that more than 250,000 people were saved from starvation. Operation Restore Hope is still a significant event in American history. In 1992, the life-saving operation in Somalia took a tragic turn.
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Somalia 1992
Somalia was the most deadly city in the entire world in 1992. To dominate Somalia, fourteen to fifteen warlords fought and attacked each other randomly on the streets. According to Somalia’s local citizen, these warlords could kill anyone they wanted, destroy anyone and even rape anyone they saw on the streets.
The Battle of Mogadishu – Smithsonian Magazine
M Farrah Aidid was the Somalian warlord and his followers attacked the United Nations peacekeepers. Two of the Somalian warlords M Aidid’s lieutenants were captured and arrested by the United Nations.
Battle Of Mogadishu
A tip from intelligence suggests that the clan leaders were the victims of a coup. Habar Gidir, under Aidid’s direct orders, will They will meet in a three-story building called Olympic Hotel. They planned to surround and surround the Olympic Hotel from all sides. Next, the Rangers of U.S. army will enter the building using helicopters. To capture the troops and bring them to prison, a convoy of trucks from the ground would be waiting at the Olympic Building’s entrance and exit. This plan would require approximately 12 vehicles, 19 planes, and more 150 army Rangers to execute.
The plan was still foolproof, but it didn’t get as the U.S. army thought it would. The ground convoy was repelled by the Somalian warlord’s followers, who had set up barricades. One of the U.S. military helicopters landed in North of its target location due to the constant fire from the ground. A Ranger who was hanging from the rope had to be pulled down and rescued. Gunmen from the Somalian warlord also were shot down. Two Black Hawk Rocket-propelled grenades are used to propel helicopters in the United States.
U.S Rangers Black Hawk
When around one hundred Rangers of the U.S. Army and Delta Force rushed for backup, they got caught in the continuous gunfire from the Aidid’s side and then trapped for the whole night.
The Battle of Mogadishu lasted 18 hours. 18 soldiers of the United States were killed and hundreds of Somalian citizens were injured. Media broadcast an image of a dead Americal Ranger whose body was carried by Somalian peoples along the streets in Mogadishu. The President of the United States Bill Clinton was elected recently and ordered that the Special Forces stop Operation Restore Hope. He also directed them to return from Somalia until March 3, 1994.
Post-Battle Conequences
Following that incident, the conditions in Somalia became very difficult. Aidid died in a battle in 1996. Somalia has been lawless for many decades. An open invitation for pirate gangs to invade the country via the Indian Ocean coast was a lawless country. Many Somalia’s educated, wealthy and well-educated citizens fled the country.
The United States felt the effects of the incident. The United States was now vigilant about placing ground troops anywhere in the country. And that’s why when the incident of Rwandan Hutus took place in which millions of Tutsi countrymen were slaughtered, the United States didn’t help. One more incident when U.S. forces didn’t participate was in the genocidal campaign against the civilian of Croatia and Muslims in 1995.
The United Nations’ pledge to not be involved in any International conflict was suddenly broken on September 11, 2001. This was the day President Barack Obama and George Bush sent their Army Rangers on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. They sent their troops to Somalia, but they kept away from the Rebels of Somalia. Only 18 airstrikes were conducted in the last two years of Barack Obama’s presidency.
The U.S. in Somalia after 20 years of Black Hawk Down
Current Situation of Somalia
The United States and Somalia have seen a shift in recent years. There were 63 U.S. airstrikes on Somalia in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, there were 500 U.S. troops in Somalia. There are forces on the Somalia land. There are however, other casualties on the part of the United States.
Kyle Milliken was the Senior Chief Special Warfare Operative in Somalia. He was shot and killed on May 2017. He was helping the National Somali Army Troops just a few miles from Mogadishu’s capital. Alexander Conrad was the Army Staff Sergeant. In Somalia, Alexander Konrad, the Army Staff Sergeant.
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