Writer: Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Ansar Jamil, Retired

''Many of our US soldiers are alive today because of the willingness and skill of the Pakistani soldiers, who worked jointly in a rescue operation. We are thankful to people and Army of Pakistan for sending such splendid soldiers to Somalia, whom 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." Major General (MG) Thomas M. Montgomery, US Army (Deputy Force Commander UNOSOM)

Pakistan Army's stay in Somalia is a saga of dedicated hard work, selflessness and bravery of all ranks, of a brigade sized contingent, part of the largest UN peacekeeping mission of the time: UNOSOM. The first ever UN troops to reach this war torn country were Pakistanis 7 FF (Frontier Force Regiment) in1992 and so were the last to leave i.e. 5 FF, in 1995.

On the fateful night of 3rd and 4th October 1993, Pakistani troops as part of a multinational force (US, Pakistan & Malaysia), were called in to rescue the US Rangers, who were stuck in the most precarious place of Mogadishu - Bakaara market. It was a unique and unprecedented display of cooperation in a tactical combat setting. Together, the 1 US, Pakistani and Malaysian troops fought valiantly to save the lives of their brothers in arms. It exuded a lot of goodwill and the US military appreciated the courage and grit of Pakistani as well as Malaysian soldiers. Nonetheless, US writers and press went on to glorify the incident as the Story of Modern War, the Battle of Mogadishu, The Somali battle that changed US policy in Africa, through a book and a movie - 'Black Hawk Down'.

It was also regarded as 3rd most intense battle of American history by historian Shannon Corbeil in an article titled Top 10 most intense battles in US history, in May 2018 (available on web). Ironically, while eulogising a disaster, the American media somehow forgot to remember the rescuers. Unfortunately, Newsweek went so far as to say that the valiant rescuers had to be forced into this mission. A false assertion that anguished the saviours; who are alive and refute any such frivolous claim.

The Battle of Mogadishu (part of operation Gothic Serpent) on 3rd October 1993, proved to be the last (although never intended) showdown in the history of UN operations in Somalia. The hostilities between Somalis and UN forces had reached unprecedented heights by then. Every move outside the camp premises had to be escorted by tanks and these were also used to reinforce almost all the strong points. The link patrolling coupled with search and cordon operations by tanks increased and exchange of fire with Somalis became a routine. The US troops also stepped up their efforts to nab General Farah Aideed (Somali warlord). Their modus operandi was simple; two helicopters with excellent surveillance system used to be flying over Mogadishu at all times. Wherever they would see the signs of some gathering or conference of Somali warlords, the helicopters would alert their Quick Reaction Force (QRF). The QRF comprised a company of Rangers, who would take off in Black Hawk helicopters, escorted by Cobra attack helicopters. These Rangers would drop at the suspected site, search the area and would be picked up by the Black Hawks subsequently.

At about 1500 hours on 3rd October 1993, the troops of Pakistani tank squadron from 19 Lancers (19 L) concentrated at Mogadishu airport, saw about 18 helicopters - a mix of Cobras and Black Hawks, flying towards the city centre.6 Around 1830 hours, they received a call from Pakistan's Brigade Headquarters that US Rangers had raided Olympic Hotel in Bakaara market to nab Colonel Omer Jess and Mohamed Hassan Awale (two of the most wanted military commanders of General Farah Aideed), but the operation had turned into a fiasco. The American QRF and their helicopters had been fired upon by Somalis, and two Black Hawks had crash landed in the centre of the city. Following the crash, the rest of the fleet of helicopter had come back to the American base. Meanwhile, ground attempts were made by US troops to reach the hotel and extricate the stranded soldiers, but Somalis had by then erected many road blocks on the way to the hotel.7 The Somali militia's effective fire on helicopters as well as on ground forces nullified all efforts of the US troops to extricate their stranded soldiers.

Pakistan's contingent was asked to help rescue the marooned Rangers. ''Admiral Jonathan Howe9 (Special Representative for Somalia to United Nations Secretary General) remembers that there was immediate response to the SOS from the Pakistanis and Malaysians:'10 ''A troop of tanks and a 15 FF platoon on two APCs ( armoured personnel carriers) were immediately put on notice to become part of QRE' 11 The Pakistani force was given the task to lead (without any night vision) the QRF from Seaport (map-1) till the Olympic Hotel (map 1), cordon the site, give fire support at the site, and once the Rangers were rescued, also cover the withdrawal of the Force12 - in a nutshell, Pakistanis were to be the 'first in' and 'last out: The Pakistani force comprised of 15 FF and 19 L, with an APC-borne platoon and a troop of tanks13 respectively. The Malaysian force comprised of three empty Condor APCs (with driver & commander only) in order to accommodate the stranded soldiers. Pakistani tank fleet was equipped with M48A2C tanks (1952 vintage), which did NOT have any night vision capability. 14 The US forces, while seeking required tank support for their ground rescue operation, already knew of this limitation of the Pakistani contingent. However, on being denied tank support by the Italians, and all other tank elements of certain other countries available close by, the UN deputy force commander (MG Thomas Montgomery) requested Brigadier Ikram (the then Commander of Pakistani Brigade) to help the Americans.

One of the tank troops of 19 L (4 tanks) along with 2 APCs of 15 FF sped to the Seaport (map-2), where they were to link up with the Americans. The tank troop and APCs reached there at around 1905 hours, whereas, the US QRF consisting of two mechanised companies and one Rangers company was the last to arrive at 21 :30 hours. "Why they arrived more than two hours late thus lengthening the rescue time, remains a mysterY:'15 Two tank teams were made from 19Ls tank squadron; Captain Saad (later colonel) the troop leader and Risaldar Ashraf (later honourary captain) in one, and Captain Imran (later brigadier) along with Risaldar Aslam were the 2nd team.16 15 FF's APC borne platoon was commanded by Lieutenant Mustafiz Bahar (later captain).

The multi-national convoy commenced its move at about 2300 hours from the Seaport (map-2). Pakistani force was in the lead, followed by US troops in their Humvees and the Malaysian APCs at the end. Throughout the move, Pakistani force came under fire from the close by buildings / streets, but due to effective counter fire, they made headway. The tank troop, while leading from the front, pushed ahead through heavy resistance, under adverse conditions, aggravated by pitch darkness and narrow streets dominated by multi-storied buildings, which had always threatened the tankers even under normal circumstances.17 At last the force reached the site, unscathed. Captain Saad (the tank troop leader) guided the US troops to the crash sites in the North (map-2) as well as in the South (map-2). This act of reaching the correct road intersection in pitch dark night, and then guiding the US Rangers to adopt a route in the narrowest streets of the infamous Bakaara Market, speaks volumes of the night navigation expertise of the then troop leader. There were numerous identical road intersections en route and a single wrong turn could have terminated the operation even before it started. 18

According to plan, the US Rangers / QRF started contacting the stranded troops and some troops were extricated. The Pakistani force provided fire support to US troops and was also fighting the Somali militiamen who were firing on them from multiple directions. Due to stiff resistance and effective fire by the militia, there was lack of coordination / coherence amongst various US fighting groups. The tank troop came under thick fire and a bullet whizzed past Captain Imran's face. Fierce fire exchange prolonged for another hour or so. Concurrently, the troop received heavy mortar fire from a place, some 700 meters towards north of the road (National Street, map-2). Lieutenant Mustafiz Bahar located the shooters and engaged them with his submachine gun, and also indicated the mortar site to the tankers. 19 After identifying the mortar site, the troop leader carried out a shell shoot, thus neutralising it.

Lieutenant Bahar observed five militia men armed with two RPG 7's, crawling towards the QRF. They were engaged and killed by Bahar and his team. A man behind a wall on a building, fired an auto matic burst at the leading APC, hitting the cupola of Babar's APC, narrowly missing his head. Lance Naik (lance corporal) Abdul Jalil fired back20 with his 12.7 mm anti-aircraft gun and killed the shooter.21

Ataround0300hours, tanks were running out of fuel as their engines had been running for over three hours since the commencement of the operation, thus the troop leader ordered Captain Imran's tank team to pull out and get refuelled (the tanks had to go back quite a distance to Strong Point 207-a refuelling point (map-3), manned by Pakistani 1 Sind Regiment). After getting the tanks topped up, they returned to the site. The troop leader then decided to move back himself and refuelled his team. This refuelling was a complete operation in itself amidst intense fire. At this moment, the Squadron Commander, Major (later Lieutenant General) Umar Farooq Durrani, ordered Captain Imran to assume command of the tank troop. He took over the command and kept the enemy pinned down by carrying out consistent firing with remaining thanks in the site.

Finally, the stranded US soldiers were contacted, and they started trickling out of the north site (map-3) but no physical contact could be established in the south.22 Due to panic and fatigue, the troops of American Reserve Company had gotten so disoriented that they started firing in the direction of their own (US) withdrawing soldiers, and even injured a few of them. At this moment, in the wee hours of that hazy morning - when air was heavy with smoke, dust and smell of gunpowder, everyone was surprised to see the small frame of Lieutenant Mustafiz Bahar (15 FF), leaping out of his APC, rushing towards the lost American soldiers in the middle of cross fire, and directing them towards APCs. Lieutenant Bahar accommodated nearly 40 US soldiers in his APCs.23 One of the badly wounded US soldiers left behind, was dragged and sheltered by Lieutenant Baber in his own APC (Baber, being light weight, couldn't pick him up as he was heavy!).24

Captain Imran along with the second tank kept firing and covered the move of extricating Americans. When the American troops reached the National Street (map-3) from the crash site, they received intense fire from one of the buildings north of the road, which completely halted their further withdrawal. The fire from the said building was so intense that withdrawing soldiers were cut off from the rest of the force, which had by then mounted the vehicles and was ready to move back. At this point, Captain Imran identified the exact location of the sniper in the building and fired two main gun rounds, which landed right on target and silenced the sniper site, enabling the cut off American troops to move back and link up with the withdrawing AP Cs. Since two Malaysian APCs were hit by RPG rounds (one Malaysian soldier was killed),25 15 US soldiers could not find space in the vehicles, standing astounded to see their vehicles leaving the site. Although it was not part of the plan, the American troops were mounted into Pakistani APCs. Still, four of them could not be accommodated, who were then made to sit in the tanks.26 After retrieving the stranded soldiers, the force started moving back at around 0530 hours. The Pakistani troops were at the tail end to protect the force from Somali militia who was chasing them with intense fire from many directions. After ensuring that nobody had been left in the site, Captain Imran reported to the troop leader that the site was clear, and he was ready to move back. The troop leader along with the other tank led the column, while Captain Imran's tank team along with APCs guarded the rear. His tank was the last to leave the site and kept the enemy pinned down by carrying out speculative fire with machine guns.27

The complete force reached the Soccer Stadium (Pakistani camp-I Sind Regiment) (map-3) at about 0700 hours on 4th Oct 1993, and was received by the Commanding Officer (CO) of 1 Sind Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel (later brigadier) Sher Akbar. The injured US soldiers, many of them serious, were tended to by a devoted team of doctors and staff of Pakistani Field Hospital (122 Field Ambulance) there, who carried out lifesaving surgeries. Many of the US soldiers owe their lives to the tireless efforts of these doctors and paramedics.28 Besides, the US soldiers were served with Pakistan Army's signature fantastic tea with snacks. From there, the US troops were lifted by helicopters to their camp.29 Once the 15 FF platoon came back, the CO Lieutenant Colonel Maq bool Afridi asked them in a light mood about the night: They smiled with glowing faces and shining eyes, and replied in loud voices, Sir, we have rescued the American Rangers from Somali militia. On the morning of 4th October, SM (Subedar Major) Masin Khan of 15 FF informed Col Maqbool Afridi that, Americans are saluting our flag (while passing through Pakistani Camp).

Just after the arrival of Americans in the stadium, the US gunship helicopters started punishing all the suspected sites of Somalis and destroyed the buildings which, in their opinion, were harbouring militia.

One Pakistani soldier (1 Sind) lost his life during the rescue operation.31 18 US Rangers were killed, 73 wounded and one was captured alive (helicopter pilot),32 whereas one Malaysian was killed and 7 were wounded. One soldier of 15 FF (sepoy later havildar/sergeant Akram) had a shrapnel wound on his cheek33 but refused to go to hospital. Around 350 1000 (estimates vary) Somalis were killed/ wounded. 35 Bruised and battered bodies of American soldiers were dragged through the streets of market Bakaara by hostile Somalis. "In order. to soften the blow and salvage national pride, the event was glamourised r in the Hollywood film Black Hawk Down ... the film became part of international folklore and the role of the Pakistanis in rescuing the elite troops of the world's mightiest armed forces, was forgotten and obscured:' 36

It is seldom that soldiers of three nations come together for an operation like this. The sense of sacrifice, devotion and duty exhibited by these brave men is commendable, to say the least. The rescue mission brought harmony and mutual respect amongst men serving under UN banner, for a cause that transcended boundaries.

UN operations exposed Pakistani troops to other armies. It can be said with great pride that even though Pakistanis were short of equipment, their systems were efficient, and their men including the junior leaders were very professional and confident - a fact duly recognised by Americans. US President Clinton and General J P Hoar, Commander CENTCOM sent special messages (facsimiles at the end of the article). The SRSG (Special Representative of UN Secretary General) Admiral Jonathan Howe and UNOSOM force commander General Cevik Bir expressed special appreciation for Pakistani troops' determination and professionalism, and thanked them for helping the US troops. 37 Deputy Commander of the UN Forces in Somalia thanked General Abdul Waheed (COAS, Pakistan Army) in the words as mentioned in facsimile of the letter on next page.

Editor's Note

As this number goes to the press, the editor announces with sorrow that Captain Mustafiz Bahar, retired, passed away on Tuesday, 28 July 2020, at Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. May his soul rest in peace (ameen).