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Operation Gothic Serpent

Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted by special forces of the United States with the primary mission of capturing General Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The operation took place in Somalia, Africa from August to October 1993 and was supervised by the Joint Special Operations Command.

As part of the operation, the soldiers were deployed in a mission to arrest two of Aidid's lieutenants. The result of that mission —executed under the command of Gothic Serpent— became known as the Battle of Mogadishu.

Background

In December of 1992, President George H. W. Bush ordered the U.S. armed forces to join the United Nations in a joint operation known as Operation Restore Hope with the primary mission of restoring order in Somalia. The country was wracked by civil war and a severe famine as it was ruled by a number of warlords. Over the next several months, the situation deteriorated.

In May 1993, all the parties involved in the civil war agreed to a disarmament conference proposed by Mohamed Farah Aidid, the leading Somali warlord. On June 5, 1993, 24 Pakistani troops in the UN force were killed in an ambush in an area of Mogadishu, controlled by Aidid. Any hope of a peaceful resolution of the conflict quickly vanished. The next day, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 837 calling for the arrest and trial of those responsible for the ambush. US warplanes and UN troops began a concentrated attack on Aidid's stronghold. Aidid remained defiant, and the violence between Somalis and UN troops escalated.

On August 22, Task Force Ranger was deployed to Somalia under the command of Maj. General William F. Garrison, commander of Delta Force at the time. The force consisted of:

• one company of Army Rangers from the Bravo Company, 3rd Battallion of the 75th Ranger Regiment
• 130 operators from the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force)
• a deployment package of 16 helicopters and personnel from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers) which included MH-60 Black Hawks and MH-6 Little Birds

Their mission was the pursuit of Aidid under the code name Operation Gothic Serpent.

General information of the operation

In Mogadishu, the task force occupied an old hangar and construction trailers under primitive conditions. The force even lacked potable water and was subject to frequent mortar and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) fire.

During the month of September, the force conducted several successful missions to arrest sympathizers of Aidid and to confiscate arms caches. The aircrafts also made frequent flights over the city to desensitize the public to the presence of military aircraft and to familiarize themselves with the narrow streets and alleys of the city (see PSYOPs).

Operation Code Irene, the Battle of Mogadishu

Main article: Battle of Mogadishu.

On the afternoon of October 3, 1993, informed that two leaders of Aidid's clan were at a residence in central Mogadishu, the task force sent 19 aircraft, 12 vehicles, and 160 men to arrest them. During the mission, one of the rangers fast-roping from an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, missed the rope and fell 70 feet to the street below, badly injuring himself. The two leaders were quickly arrested, and the prisoners and the injured Ranger were loaded on a convoy of ground vehicles. However, armed Somalis were converging on the target area from all over the city.

The battle turned out to be the most intensive close combat that US troops had engaged in since the Vietnam War. In the end, two MH-60 were destroyed and 18 US soldiers lost their lives.

Aftermath

The militia had also taken Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mike Durant captive, planning to trade him for Somali prisoners. But before they could get him back to their village, they were intercepted by local bandits, who took Durant, intending to use him for ransom. He was taken back to a house where he was held, interrogated, and videotaped. Later, after Aidid paid his ransom, Durant was moved to the apartment of Aidid's propaganda minister.

After five days, he was visited by a representative of the International Red Cross and interviewed by British and French journalists. Finally, after ten days, with the intervention of former