Bloody Monday raid
United Nations military operation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bloody Monday raid (Somali: Isniinta Dhiigii), also known as the Abdi House raid or Operation Michigan, was a US military operation[3] that took place in Mogadishu on 12 July 1993, during the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) phase of the UN intervention in the Somali Civil War.[4][5] Carried out by American QRF troops on behalf of UNOSOM II, the raid was the war's deadliest incident in Mogadishu to that point and a turning point in the UN operation.[6][7] It inflamed anti-UN and anti-American sentiments among Somalis, galvanizing the insurgency that the US military faced during the Battle of Mogadishu three months later.[8][9][10][7]
Bloody Monday raid (Operation Michigan) | |
---|---|
Part of UNOSOM II | |
Type | Air strike and Air assault |
Location | |
Commanded by | Thomas M. Montgomery |
Objective | Kill or capture of SNA leadership |
Date | July 12, 1993 (1993-07-12) 10:18am – 10:35 (UTC+03:00) |
Executed by | 1st Bn, 22nd Infantry and 41st Bn Engineer of 10th Mountain Division, on behalf of UNOSOM II[1] |
Outcome |
|
Casualties | UN forces casualties - none Somali casualties:
|
As part of the hunt for General Mohammed Farah Aidid after the attack on Pakistani peacekeepers on 5 June 1993, U.S. forces conducted a 17-minute raid on a villa owned by Aidid's Interior Minister, Abdi "Qeybdiid" Awale.[11][12][13] The villa was hosting a gathering attended by high-ranking elders of the Habar Gidir and other major subclans, along with prominent members of the Aidid-led Somali National Alliance (SNA).[14][15][7]
UNOSOM II claimed that the gathering was a war council composed of hardliners taking place at an SNA command center, making it a legitimate military target,[15][16] but never produced evidence to justify its claims.[17][18][19] In contrast, Somali accounts of the raid maintain that the meeting was a peace conference in which eminent elders, SNA moderates, and civilians convened to discuss a proposed diplomatic resolution to the escalating conflict between the SNA and UNOSOM II.[20][21][7][17] The 12 July operation was heavily criticized by the UNOSOM II Justice Division,[22][23] Doctors Without Borders,[21] Human Rights Watch,[18] Amnesty International,[17] and the Organization of African Unity.[24]