UNITAF
| Operation Restore Hope | |||||||
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| Part of the Somali Civil War | |||||||
 UNITAF Area of Operations, February 1993 |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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 United Somali Congress
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Boutros Boutros Ghali George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton Robert B. Johnston (UNITAF) |
Mohamed Farrah Aidid
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| Strength | |||||||
| see Composition of UNITAF | unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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US: 53 killed 153 wounded (Includes UNOSOM II casualties) Italy: 3 killed 36 wounded Australia: 1 killed 3 wounded Canada: 1 killed Belgium: 3 killed 2+ wounded Malaysia: 1 killed Greece: 1 killed Pakistan: 39-60 Killed 75+ wounded Malaysia: 5 Killed 23 wounded Turkey: 4 Wounded |
Not known | ||||||
United Nations operational success
The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a US-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force, which operated in Somalia between 5 December 1992 – 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), UNITAF was charged with carrying out United Nations Security Council Resolution 794 to create a protected environment for conducting humanitarian operations in the southern half of the country.
After the killing of several Pakistani peacekeepers, the Security Council changed UNITAF's mandate issuing the Resolution 837 that establishes that UNITAF troops could use "all necessary measures" to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid in accordance to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter,
Faced with a humanitarian disaster in Somalia, exacerbated by a complete breakdown in civil order, the United Nations had created the UNOSOM I mission in April 1992. However, the complete intransigence of the local faction leaders operating in Somalia and their rivalries with each other meant that UNOSOM I could not be performed. The mission never reached its mandated strength.
Over the final quarter of 1992, the situation in Somalia continued to worsen. Factions were splintering into smaller factions, and then splintered again. Agreements for food distribution with one party were worthless when the stores had to be shipped through the territory of another. Some elements were actively opposing the UNOSOM intervention. Troops were shot at, aid ships attacked and prevented from docking, cargo aircraft were fired upon and aid agencies, public and private, were subject to threats, looting and extortion.
By November, General Mohamed Farrah Aidid had grown confident enough to defy the Security Council formally and demand the withdrawal of peacekeepers, as well as declaring hostile intent against any further UN deployments.
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Wikipedia