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Sacrifice in the land without hope

An 05 June 1993, a contingent of Pakistani troops was mandated to make an inventory of one of the arms caches of the Somali warlord Gen Farah Aideed. As per the Addis Ababa agreement, each of the warlords had been allowed by the UN to keep a limited number of weapons for self-protection, the proposed inventory was part of an on-going process that had been agreed to. In this specific case, the arms cache was next to a Radio Station run by the Aideed faction but any apprehension of retaliatory measures was dispelled by assurances given by Aideed of absolute compliance with the terms of the agreement. While the lightly armed Pakistani soldiers were engaged in the inventory, Farah Aideed went on the Radio and incited his gunmen that the UN was about to take over the Radio Station. At about 11 a.m. as the Pakistanis started to make their way back, they were surrounded by a seemingly innocent crowd of women and children. Using them as cover, Aideed’s gunmen from the surrounding buildings made the space in-between a deadly killing ground. Unable to fire back without killing women and children, the Pakistani Peacekeepers suffered grievously, at least 23 died, many more were wounded, in avoiding the civilian massacre. One of the proudest battalions of the Pakistan Army, 10 Baluch, lost more casualties in this two hour period than at any time in its proud history, including its stint in North Africa 50 years earlier as a part of the British 8th Army in World War II.

Farah Aideed is one of the most vicious of the Somali warlords and that is not surprising giving his connections to India’s Research & Analytical Wing (RAW). Fired as Ambassador to India by Somali strongman, Siad Barre, Aideed came under the aegis of RAW. Desperate to get a foothold in Africa, RAW found a willing pupil in Aideed in its bid to export terror and mayhem in Muslim countries. Funded by RAW, Aideed made his way back to Ethiopia from India and founded his faction of the rebel groups which combined with others to topple Siad Barre. In inter-fighting since, Aideed has emerged as the most cruel and vicious warlord among a group of warlords that have excelled in the worst brand of terror that this world has ever known. With Somalia turned into a ghost country, without any government or civil administration and millions dead, dying of starvation and conflict, the world community decided to intervene and 500 Pakistani troops of the UN mandated forces of UNISOM-I, United Nations Forces for Somalia, were airlifted into Mogadishu Airport and seaport in September 1992. Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, troops of the 7th Battalion of the Frontier Force (7FF) secured the two landing points and started their long wait till US Forces ultimately landed there in December in force (25,000 men) to start the work of pacification throughout the country. During the period September-December Pakistani Peacekeepers kept the airport and seaport functioning as a firm base, giving due protection to the many relief agencies that were distributing humanitarian aid, food supplies and providing medical help. From January to March 1993, US troops fanned out in their search and ferret operations for arms caches. Forced to come to the negotiating table by Ambassador Oakley, a live and let live agreement was duly agreed to by all the warring factions. In March 1993, the main body of US troops pulled out, being replaced by a multi-national force UNISOM-2. The Pakistani contingent in Somalia was brought upto a Brigade plus strength, approximately 4,000 troops commanded in the field by Brig Ikramul Hasan.

It is on record that the Pakistani contingent did not have the benefit of armoured vehicles or helicopter gunship support in any of the missions required of them despite the repeated requests that had been made. In the circumstances, the June 5 incident was an event waiting to happen. Aideed needed to inflict a bloody nose on the UN Peacekeepers to restore his flagging authority with his followers. To choose to attack US forces would have been tantamount to suicide, in his plans fellow Muslim Pakistanis were bloodily expendable. The ambush was carefully crafted for time and space, the trap was further accentuated by the presence of women and children in the Pakistani line of fire. To fulfil his nefarious purposes, Aideed thought nothing about using innocents to cover his gunmen, they were as expendable as the Pakistanis who died in the mission to bring succour to a ravished, impoverished Muslim land. In the circumstances, the Pakistanis were lucky not to have their complete contingent annihilated. It was only the courage and bravery of the men of the contingent that held off the Somali horde from overwhelming them.

Very correctly, the UN decided to restore its authority and bring Aideed into line. In a carefully planned retaliation, high tech was used to take out his suspected arms caches and vehicle dumps by gunship raids over a period of three nights. Aideed’s fire power ability has been considerably reduced but he has yet not been brought to heel. Because the unprovoked killings was a cold-blooded pre-meditated murder conceived with ulterior purposes, Aideed’s RAW connection assumes sinister proportions.

His later actions only serve to confirm this. A mob of Somalis demonstrated against the UN strike opposite the UN HQ in Mogadishu guarded by Pakistani soldiers, as usual they were led by women and children. Somali gunmen lurked in the background like in the previous episode and opened fire from behind the cover. In self-defence Pakistan Peacekeepers shot and killed one gunman and wounded 2 others. This restraint was confirmed by the number of bullets fired but the international media subsequently reported over 20 deaths, many women and children, many more seriously injured. Since the Pakistani troops had not opened indiscriminate fire at any stage, the only conclusion is that Aideed’s men deliberately targeted the innocents in front of them in order to justify their claim before the world court of opinion about UN highhandedness. As a snake, Aideed has few peers, as a brutal warlord not averse to making human sacrifice of non-combatants, he has no equal.

The Pakistani Peacekeepers have performed excellent work under grave provocation and must not be deterred from their task by the unfortunate casualties. Our boys died for a just cause, the fact of Somalis being Muslims is an added factor in the sacrifice. Should we let the Aideeds of the world rule the roost and subjugate their own people through intimidation and terror? As much as we weep for our Shaheeds, we must be prepared to shed more tears if our boys are required to go to Bosnia. Innocents throughout the world, particularly Muslims are living under constant threat and terror, the images of the horror and destruction are before us. If Pakistani soldiers must die so that others may live in freedom, so be it!

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