Mogadishu Line

The Mogadishu Line is the point at which foreign involvement in a conflict shifts from peacekeeping or diplomacy to combat operations. The term often comes about in reference to the reluctance of international actors to intervene militarily in another state for humanitarian reasons, due to a fear of combat operations that have a high human cost.

The term is a reference to the external intervention in the Somali Civil War, in which several opposing factions engaged in a struggle to seize control of the state. In April 1992, following calls for action by UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the UN Security Council approved the commencement of humanitarian operations into Somalia, which initially involved a small contingent of UN-approved troops (UNOSOM) followed in December by a US-dominated military force UNITAF.

In March 1993, the UN Security Council authorized a new mission, UNOSOM II, endowed with enforcement powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to establish a secure environment throughout Somalia. However, operations turned sour following the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993, when US forces attempted to launch an attack on the Olympic Hotel in search of Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The subsequent combat resulted in the deaths of 18 US soldiers and a further 83 casualties. After the battle, the bodies of several US casualties of the conflict were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by crowds of local civilians and members of Aidid's Somali National Alliance.

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