Pakistan Army saves American marines

Pakistan is one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping forces across the globe and its forces have served with distinction in places such as Congo, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti and many more.
Contrary to the Black Hawk Down version painted by Hollywood, Pakistani forces along with the Malaysians played a major part in the rescue of US marines. The operation that led to the Battle of Mogadishu had been launched by the US without coordination with the UN forces. Pakistan wasn’t even informed about the launch of operation. When things went bad and the US started taking casualties, they then contacted Pakistan and UN forces for help. Pakistan Army played a major part in the subsequent rescue effort contrary to the Hollywood movie version.

United Nations Operations in Somalia(UNOSOM,UNITAF,UNOSOM II)

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In 1992 Somali Democratic Republic, ravaged by a tragic civil war, lay in ruins. With armed bandits left free to loot, kill and create terror in the absence of any governmental authority, bullet-riddled walls and bombed roofs of buildings testifying to the horrors of civil war, communication infrastructure destroyed, civic amenities missing – there were hardly any signs of civilized life. Three hundred thousand people had died of starvation since November 1991. There were 4.5 million malnutrition cases out of which one million were on the verge of death. A picture of disaster, the country was in desperate need of international humanitarian aid.
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Pakistan was the first country to respond to the call of the United Nations. On 14th September 1992 five hundred Pakistani troops arrived in Mogadishu to launch the United Nation humanitarian campaign.
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At this time, attacks by armed gangs on incoming and docked ships as well as air strips were common. They also looted food supplies arriving under international humanitarian aid before they could reach delivery and distribution points.
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Escorting of relief convoys and effective and tactful handling of the security situation soon won the Pakistanis the trust and respect of the local population. Their selfless services provided the Somalians both relief and hope after a dark period of terror and hunger. The goodwill that their humane behaviors generated was reflected in the “Pakistani-Somali Walal Walal” (Pakistanis and Somalis are brothers ) slogans that one heard from an appreciative people.
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Pakistan , whose strength in later months rose to over 7000 troops, became the main operative contingent in the most war-ravaged part of Mogadishu controlled by the Farah Aideed faction.
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This was the cause of the 5 June 93 tragedy. The Pakistani troops were asked by the United Nation Force Headquarters to carry out an inspection of the weapon storage sites of Farah Aideed, to whom the date and time of inspection had been communicated in advance. Nobody at the United Nation Force Headquarters was able to foresee his reaction and his power to arouse the feelings of his followers against those who were carrying out the inspection. Even as their colleagues were engaged in distributing food at one of the feeding points, the Pakistani inspectors were ambushed by Aideeds followers. The ambushers were using children and women as human shields to prevent being fired back while the road-blocks they had set up made Pakistanis withdrawal difficult. Though taken by surprise and totally exposed, the courageous blue beret Pakistanis fought their way back taking full care that the children and women protecting the attackers remained unharmed. In the process twenty-three Pakistanis embraced ‘Shahadat’ fifty-six sustained injuries while eleven were disabled. As recovery of arms was a vital part of the peacekeeping mission, the 5th of June incident only accelerated the process of search operations in the Pakistani area of responsibility. More than ninety per cent of the searches were carried out by Pakistanis. Some of the operations were carried out by the US Quick Reaction Force, Rangers and the Italian troops. The Olympic Hotel Incident of 3rd October 1993 took place during one of these operations when 75 US Rangers got stranded and had to be rescued by a joint force of US, Pakistani and Malaysian troops. The grim battle lasted eight hours.
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Had it not been for the courage, valour and steadfastness of the Pakistani soldiers, the rescue operation could not have succeeded and the trapped US soldiers might have perished.
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Major General Thomas M. Montgomery, Deputy Commander of the United Nations Forces in Somalia in a television interview said: “Many of the soldiers are alive today because of the willingness and skill of the Pakistani soldiers who worked jointly in a rescue operation with Malaysian and American soldiers in most difficult and dangerous combat circumstances”. He thanked the people and Pakistan Army for sending “such splendid soldiers to Somalia who we feel proud to serve with. Pakistani soldiers have been completely dependable even in the most difficult circumstances. They have shouldered a huge and dangerous load for UNOSOM and the Somali people”.
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