Pertempuran Mogadishu (1993)

Pertempuran Mogadishu adalah sebuah pertempuran antara pasukan Amerika Serikat dan pejuang gerilya Somalia yang setia kepada warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid pada 3 Oktober 1993 di distrik Black Sea di Mogadishu, Somalia.

Satu tim Pasukan Khusus AD AS melakukan sebuah operasi yang melibatkan perjalanan dari "compound" mereka di pinggiran kota untuk menangkap pemimpin militia Aidid. Pasukan serang tersebut terdiri dari 19 pesawat, 12 kendaraan, dan 160 orang. Selama operasi, dua helikopter MH-60 ditembak jatuh oleh granat didorong roket, dan tiga lainnya rusak.

Beberapa tentara berhasil mengevakuasi yang terluka kembali ke "compound", namun lainnya terperangkap di lokasi jatuhnya dan terpotong. Peperangan di kota terjadi pada malam hari. Esok pagi harinya, sebuah pasukan tugas gabungan dikirim untuk menyelamatkan pasukan yang terperangkap. Dia terdiri dari pasukan dari Pakistan, Malaysia, dan tentara AS dari Divisi Gunung ke-10. Mereka membentuk 60 kendaraan, termasuk tank Pakistan, pembawa personel lapis baja Condor Malaysia, dan didukung oleh Hughes H-6 AS dan UH-60 Black Hawk. Pasukan gabungan ini mencapai lokasi jatuh pertama dan membawa pasukan yang terperangkap keluar. Lokasi jatuh ke-2 terlewatkan; pasukan Amerika yang terperangkap dijadikan tawanan, namun kemudian dilepas.

Diperkirakan pertempuran ini mengakibatkan kematian sekitar 1000 militer dan penduduk Somalia, dan melukai sekitar 3000-4000. 18 tentara Amerika tewas, dan 73 lainnya terluka. Satu tentara Malaysia tewas, dan beberapa terluka; dua tentara Pakistan juga terluka.

Pranala luar

• Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War - Featuring the text of the original articles, photos, and interviews with former soldiers involved in the battle.
• Cactus and Bitterness Grow Where American Chopper Was Downed - An American journalist visits Mogadishu, 12 years after the battle.
• United Nations Operation in Somalia I A "Mission Backgrounder' prepared by the Department of Public Information, United Nations
• Somalia: Strategic Failures and Operational Successes A 1995 thesis submitted to the faculty of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College
• Task Force Ranger Memorial. - Memorial to the fallen US Army Personnel

Situs web bekas peserta pertempuran

• Black Hawk Down '93 - including an image gallery with pictures taken during the operation.
• NightStalkers.com: Operation Gothic Serpent - with a memorial of American casualties (including a bio for each of them) and an article written by a former Ranger that served on the operation.
• SpecialOperations.com: Operation Restore Hope - featuring a detailed explanation of the operation and the events of October 3 1993.
• SuaSponte.com - Ranger History: Somalia - featuring a 41 page summary of the Battle of Mogadishu, the events that lead to it, and what could have contributed to the missions disaster.
• U.S. Army Ranger Association - History: Somalia (Task Force Ranger) - featuring the account by USARA and former NightStalkers that served in combat during the battle.

Referensi

1. Bowden, Mark, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, Atlantic Monthly Press (1999)
2. Clarke, Walter, and Herbst, Jeffrey, editors, Learning from Somalia: The Lessons of Armed Humanitarian Intervention, Westview Press (1997)
3. Gardner, Judith and el Bushra, Judy, editors, Somalia - The Untold Story: The War Through the Eyes of Somali Women, Pluto Press (2004)
4. Prestowitz, Clyde, Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions, Basic Books (2003)
5. Sangvic, Roger, Battle of Mogadishu: Anatomy of a Failure, School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (1998)
6. Stevenson, Jonathan, Losing Mogadishu: Testing U.S. Policy in Somalia, Naval Institute Press (1995)
7. Stewart, Richard W., The United States Army in Somalia, 1992-1994, US Army Center for Military History (2003)
8. Somalia: Good Intentions, Deadly Results, VHS, produced by KR Video and The Philadelphia Inquirer (1998)