In the summer of 1993, Somalia was a country torn apart by civil war; it didn’t have a president and had two major factions, one headed by Interim President Ali Mahdi Mohamed and the other by General Farah Aidid, warring with each other. The war and the resulting chaos had left millions of people starving; malnutrition and disease had killed hundreds of citizens including children, in the country.
The Security Council of the United Nations had imposed an arms embargo in January 1992 and the Secretary General of the UN got the warring parties to agree to a ceasefire. The parties also agreed that UN security personnel would protect the aid convoys. In April of 1992, the Security Council established the United Nations Operations in Somalia, UNOSOM, to provide humanitarian aid in the country.
The ceasefire didn’t last long and due to the continual infighting, the Security Council decided to send three thousand more troops to the country to protect the delivery of aid. Later that year, the United States offered to lead the delivery of aid and assistance; the Security Council accepted the offer and authorized the use of all necessary means for the relief effort. The United Task Force, UNITAF, comprised of contingents from twenty-four countries, led by the U.S., got aid moving again, by the end of the year.
In the first half of 1993, UNITAF got transitioned to UNOSOM II, which would include a military mandate to monitor the warring factions, prevent the outbreak of violence, maintain security at ports and clear mines, among several other responsibilities.
UNOSOM II had twenty thousand military personnel from several countries, including the US, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and several European, Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The soldiers were supported by eight thousand support staff and more than two thousand civilians.
In the June of 1993, twenty-five Pakistani soldiers were attacked by militants affiliated to General Aidid. Ten more soldiers went missing and fifty-four were injured. The United Nations reacted strongly and authorized the taking of any necessary action against those responsible. It ordered the general to surrender peacefully and directed the UNOSOM Force Commander to detain Aidid. UNOSOM II acted on these directives and Radio Mogadishu, which was a propaganda machine for Aidid, was wrested back from the general’s forces and several of his weapons storage sites were destroyed.
The attacks on the UNOSOM II troops and the aid convoys didn’t cease however, and no progress was made in capturing the general. Early in August, the general’s forces blew up a U.S. Military Police vehicle, killing four MPs, and this led to the deployment of Task Force Ranger to Somalia.
Task Force Ranger was a group of elite U.S. operatives sent to Somalia to capture General Aidid; this unit had operatives from 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, 1st SFDOD-D, Rangers from the 75th Ranger Regiment, choppers from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Navy SEALs from DevGru, and Air Force Pararescuemen and combat controllers from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron.
Zeb Carter was a Delta Force operative, deployed along with Task Force Ranger.