June 1993 attack on Pakistani military in Somalia

At Radio Mogadishu, U.N. officials claimed that certain individuals had begun to incite the crowd and snipers opened fire. They further claim that two of the initial incidents of shooting were just a diversionary tactic to draw out peacekeeping troops.[1]

The Pakistanis would deny the Somali charge that they were attempting to seize Radio Mogadishu.[9]

U.N. accounts claim that militia mixed into the crowd had opened fire on the peacekeepers and initiated the battle at Radio Mogadishu.[3]

Somali accounts claim that the Pakistanis at Radio Mogadishu had opened fire on the crowd first, initiating the battle.[6][3]

"Then the soldiers lowered the muzzles of their guns and shot straight at people. I saw a young child of four and a girl about fifteen and a boy had been killed. I had not used my gun since the night at Villa Somalia (the night Somali dictator Siad Barre was driven from Mogadishu in 1991). I did not fight in the civil war, but now I ran to dig it up from where it was hidden."

Account of the incident at Radio Mogadishu according to young Somali named Abdiwele Ali in an interview with Mark Maren [6]

Somalis would claim that the inspection was actually a veiled attempt to shut down the station, and Resolution 837, passed the next day, fed into this narrative as it urged U.N. forces to, "...neutralize radio broadcasting systems that contribute to the violence and attacks directed against UNOSOM II".[9]

Aideed called for an independent investigation of the incident and claimed that the United Nations was not impartial and had a serious conflict of interest in judging an assault on its own forces.[6] A U.N. inquiry would conclude the next year that: "Without investigation, blame for the attacks of 5 June was laid on the "USC/SNA."[3][8]

The following day on June 6, 1993, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 837, calling for the arrest and prosecution of the persons responsible for the death and wounding of the peacekeepers. The Pakistanis, who had proposed the resolution, originally directly named Aideed in it, but was removed by the Americans and others who cited inadequate evidence.[7][10]

During private UNSC consultations, Russia proposed creating an international tribunal to try people who attacked U.N. personnel.[5][10] Russian Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov would argue the attackers should be punished through legal or military mean.[5] Jonathan Howe, the United Nations envoy to Somalia, would announce on UN radio that, "A full investigation will be made into the affair, and appropriate steps will be taken against those responsible." [1] It was soon after this that he put out the infamous $25,000 bounty on Aideeds head. The S.N.A would counter with a $1,000,000 bounty on Howe.[11]

In a further letter directly addressed to Aideed, that would become eerily prescient when the events of Bloody Monday would occur a month later, Howe would say:

"If the present course is pursued,"..."the results could cause further grief, especially for innocent and uninvolved Somali people. The casualties resulting from yesterday's attacks were excessive and inexplicable."

U.N. Envoy to Somalia Johnathan Howe[1]

In Pakistan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the party Jamiat Islami would call for the total withdrawal of Pakistani troops following the attack, saying they were "only serving the interests of US imperialism in Somalia and its neighboring Muslim country, Sudan".[12]

8 days after the battle Pakistani peacekeepers fired into a crowd of civilians, killing children as young as ten and two years old, and at least 20 Somalis in total died. It would mark the first major instance of UNOSOM forces killing Somalis and would greatly feed into the growing anger of the citizens of Mogadishu against the peacekeepers.[13][14][15]

Following the passing of Resolution 837 UNOSOM II forces would begin making offensive strikes all over Mogadishu with AC-130 gunships and helicopters.[16][17] On advice from the U.N., all aid work in the city came to a swift halt as the military campaign against Aideed began.[9]

UNOSOM would begin to greatly increase its firepower in Mogadishu and started making deliberate shows of force with Italian and American helicopters over the city.[18][19] The American Quick Reaction Force, after having been split up into several different hot spots in Somalia, was entirely recalled to Mogadishu.[1][20]

On the 17th of June, Aideeds compound would be directly targeted by AC-130 gunships in retaliation and Radio Mogadishu itself would also be destroyed.[20][21][22] Shortly before it was wiped out, the station would broadcast to the citizens of Mogadishu for the last time with, "We can see flagrant aggression and bullying against us."[23]

The U.N. would proceed to officially deal Aideed out of the Somali nation-building process.[24]

Johnathan Howe would begin to push Washington so hard for help in arresting Aideed that became known around the Clinton White House as "Jonathan Ahab."[24] Howe was convinced that apprehending Aideed, followed by trying him as a war criminal and removing him from Somalia - would help abate the raging civil war.[24]

Howe had also requested the deployment of Delta Force that June following the clash, but was rejected by President Clinton.[11] Howe had envisioned the small, secret Army unit dispatch small groups of well-trained soldiers who could mount a bloodless arrest of Aideed.[24] Delta began training for the operation early in the summer and commanders dispatched an assessment team to Somalia in June.[24] They reported that Aideed could easily be grabbed off the street.[24]