During the 1990's, Somalia was in an epidemic of drought and food shortages. This caused nearly 300,000 innocent people to starve to death because of warlords and marauding gangs who controlled the atmosphere. One of the country's most productive agricultural regions, and starvation was induced by warlords who used food as a weapon against farmers. Marauding gangs had invaded the region after the collapse of the Somali state in 1991 and looted farmers' harvests. The country's major warlord wanted to capture the region, so he did not allow food aid to reach the desperate population.
General Mohamed Farrah Aidid was a controversial Somali military leader, often described as a warlord to the local population. He claimed to be the President of Somalia from 1995 to 1996 but it was inconclusive because the country is so war torn. He was the chairman of the United Somali Congress (USC) and later Somali National Alliance (SNA), who dove Mohamed Siad Barre's dictatorial regime form the capital. Aidid later challenged the presence of the United Nations and United States' troops in in the country. This caused Aidid to turn his back on the aid for his people making his goal to control the country by controlling the food supply.
General Mohamed Farrah Aidid was a controversial Somali military leader, often described as a warlord to the local population. He claimed to be the President of Somalia from 1995 to 1996 but it was inconclusive because the country is so war torn. He was the chairman of the United Somali Congress (USC) and later Somali National Alliance (SNA), who dove Mohamed Siad Barre's dictatorial regime form the capital. Aidid later challenged the presence of the United Nations and United States' troops in in the country. This caused Aidid to turn his back on the aid for his people making his goal to control the country by controlling the food supply.
Due to the lack of leadership in the country, warlords-warring factions were created to section of the country by oppositions rule. Some of Somalia's main fighting groups include: Somali National Movement, United Somali Front, Somali Patriotic Movement, Somali Democratic Movement, Somali National Front, and Somali Salvation Democratic Front.
Somalia has struggled with internal fighting and poor economic and social conditions for its people. Operation Restore Hope led by General William Garrison and consisted of 440 elite troops form Delta Force. This United Task Force's mandate was to protect the delivery of food and other humanitarian aid. The operation was a success and the United States Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali determined that the presence of United Task Force had a "Positive impact on the security situation in Somalia and on the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance." An estimated 100,000 lives were saved as a result of the outside assistance.
Mogadishu, Somalia is situated on the Indian Ocean coast of the Horn of Africa, in the Banaadir administrative region in southeastern Somalia. The city is divided into the districts of Abdaziz, Bondhere, Daynile, Hamar-Jajab, and Yaqshid to name a few. The living conditions are inadequate because the conditions are run down are many civilians are famished.
"Black Hawk Down", Battle of Mogadishu, occurred on September 25th 1993. At around 02:00, Adid's men shot down a 101st Airborne Division Black Hawk with an RPG and killed three crew members at New Port near Mogadishu. The shoot down was a huge SNA (Somali National Alliance) psychological victory. Soldiers who fought in the battle were displeased when Bill Clinton announced that he would be withdrawing troops.