Black Hawk Down: How Somalia sees the Mogadishu battle three decades on
2025-02-09
Category: news

The expression Black Hawk Down, the title of a Hollywood film, has become shorthand for a 1993 US military disaster in Somalia. Eighteen American soldiers lost their lives in the fighting that began on 3 October, but so did hundreds of Somalis. As Netflix launches a documentary about those events, the BBC has spoken to some Somalis still scarred by what happened.
Despite being surrounded by the debris of an ongoing civil war, Mogadishu's residents in the early 1990s embraced the moments of serenity.The warm Sunday sunshine and cooling ocean breeze made for the perfect opportunity for Binti Ali Wardhere, 24 at the time, to visit relatives with her mother."That day was calm," she remembers.But like everyone else in the city she was unaware that the Americans were getting ready to attack warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed – and what happened would change her life forever.The US had deployed soldiers to Somalia in 1992. They were there to support a UN mission that offered humanitarian assistance to alleviate a famine – in part caused by the collapse of the central government.But after Aideed was blamed for being behind the killing of 24 UN peacekeepers in June 1993, he became a focus of military action.This included a US raid in July in which at least 70 Somalis died, marking a turning-point in the way the Americans were viewed. It also led to the deployment of elite US Rangers.On 3 October, the US got intelligence that Aideed would be at a meeting with his top officials at a hotel. The Americans launched an airborne operation that was supposed to take 90 minutes – in the end it lasted 17 hours.
For Binti, the first sign that something unusual was happening was the sound of deafening explosions that started just after 15:30 local time.Mogadishu residents had become accustomed to the sound of fighting, but there was something about the magnitude of these blasts and the shockwaves they caused that felt abnormal.People began fleeing in all directions.Determined to understand what was happening, Binti climbed to the rooftop of her relative's house. From there, she saw that the fighting was taking place in her own neighbourhood.Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, one at 16:20 and the other at 16:40. The taskforce was surrounded and then a rescue mission began.Fearing for her family, Binti ran for home."To this day, I still see the bodies scattered in the streets," she says.WATCH: The Somali battle that changed US policy in AfricaWATCH: A military disaster rememberedBinti reached her house just after 18:00 and was relieved to find everyone safe.The fighting eased a little bit, bringing a brief moment of calm.She served tea as her husband discussed the war with a neighbour. But he did not have a chance to taste the tea as a shell hit their house.Binti felt her hand get partially severed. She fell to the ground, a woman collapsed on top of her."There was hot water running over my head. I thought to myself: 'Who opened the water pipe?'"She then realised it was the blood of the person on top of her, who had died. It was Binti's neighbour who had come to their house for safety.That night, Binti also lost her husband, Mohamed Aden, and two sons - 14-year-old Abdulkadir Mohamed and 13-year-old Abdurahman Mohamed.Four of her other children, along with her brother, who had been staying with them, were injured. Her brother later succumbed to his injuries.Ifrah, who was just four years old at the time, was permanently blinded.Binti's eldest son, now a father himself, continues to struggle with mental health issues. To this day, the sight or sound of an aeroplane sends him into hiding.
He did not know it on that quiet Sunday morning, but prominent cameraman Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, also known as Ahmed Five, was to play a major role in how the events were seen.Twenty-nine at the time, he had already documented clan wars, famine and the chaotic events of Mogadishu and its suburbs.That day, he was not thinking about work when the explosions rattled the air.The sounds of helicopter gunfire and heavy machine guns signalled something more intense than the crackle of AK-47 that he normally heard.Ahmed always carried his camera, knowing that in Mogadishu anything could happen at any moment. He instinctively began documenting the unfolding chaos and headed towards the heart of the battle."Although this situation was completely different from the ones I had worked in before, I still decided to record these events and take on that responsibility," he tells the BBC.The closest event he had ever witnessed to this was the July raid which galvanised anti-American sentiment and set the stage for October's confrontation.
On the first day, he filmed some of the fighting between the US soldiers and the Somalis.Then on the second day, he was led to a house where US pilot Michael Durant was being held.Mr Durant had been flying the second Black Hawk that had come down after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. After crashing, his three crew members were killed in the fighting along with two others who had gone to rescue them."It was a huge gun battle. They say that 25 Somalis were killed by gunfire at crash site two, so that gives you some insight into how much shooting was going on," Mr Durant later told the BBC.Black Hawk survivor speaks of his time in captivityHe was saved when a gunman recognised that the pilot might have value as a prisoner.Ahmed then filmed the nervous and battered American who had several scars on his face. He can be seen confirming his identity while breathing heavily and glancing to his side at an interrogator, who is out of shot.Until that point, neither the US nor Aideed knew Mr Durant was being held, Ahmed says."I handed the videotapes to a UN plane that flew daily from Mogadishu to Nairobi [in neighbouring Kenya]."The first report of the Mogadishu battle to reach the world was from the footage I recorded. At the time, I was working as a freelancer for CNN."The images captured by Ahmed made headlines around the world.They also fed into the debate about US combat policy in the African continent, which shifted after the fighting in Mogadishu."This is something I take pride in - though at the time, I didn't anticipate its impact," Ahmed says.Within six months, the US had withdrawn its forces from Somalia. The perceived failure of the Somali mission made the US wary of intervening in subsequent African crises.
The third of October started as a day of celebration in Saida Omar Mohamud's household as that morning she gave birth to a baby girl.Relatives and neighbours gathered at her home to congratulate her, as the family prepared for a traditional name-giving ceremony.But the mood shifted once the fighting started.Chaos erupted as the first helicopter crashed in front of Saida's home.Within moments, she remembers at least 10 US soldiers storming into the house.They gathered everyone into the living room, ordering them not to move and turned it into an impromptu field hospital.The family watched in shock as wounded soldiers were laid on their dining table, receiving emergency medical treatment."Although they were afraid, they made us scared as well. They turned our house into a stronghold," Saida says.As well as her own searing memories, Saida left a permanent reminder of that day with what she decided to call her daughter,As Somalis say, "no name is given without a reason" and so Saida's little girl is now known as Amina Rangers.The Netflix documentary features "raw, immersive storytelling with first-person interviews from both sides of the Battle of Mogadishu", according to the publicity. It sheds light on the horrors experienced by Somalis like Binti during the conflict."This time, Somalis were given the opportunity to share their account of events. It is crucial that both sides of the story are always told," Ahmed Five says.But for Binti Ali, simply telling the story is not enough.She lost loved ones in the war. Yet she feels the devastation inflicted on Somali families like hers remains largely unacknowledged."It was the Americans who destroyed my house, killed my husband, my two sons, and my brother, and left my family in lasting misery," she says, her voice breaking."At the very least, they must admit what they have done and compensate us."
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