When elite U.S. troops arrived in Somalia during the summer of 1993, as part of Operation Continued Hope, the country’s civil war had worsened. Mogadishu was
a battleground between warring militia groups. Although Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his supporters held the balance of power there, nothing seemed to last forever in "Mog".
Many of the American soldiers were young, with an average age of nineteen. Some of them had just graduated from high school. Most of them lived in tents when they were in Somalia. Keeping their weapons clean was a constant struggle due to the blowing sand and salty air.
On October 3, the U.S. command received reliable intelligence that two of Aidid’s top lieutenants planned to attend a meeting in the ravaged city, about a block or so from the
Olympic Hotel. If those men (Omar Salad and Mohamed Hassan Awale) were captured, Aidid’s hold on power might be threatened. (The link takes you to the target area. The house where Salad and Awale were meeting is across the street from the large white buildings.)
The mission seemed fairly straightforward: Delta Force would capture Salad and Awale and a Ranger Task Force would secure the four corners of the target block. Everyone expected the commandos and rangers to be back at the base within an hour.
It didn’t work out that way.