Black Hawk Down a la Italia - The Battaglia del Pastificio

Abstract

The UN interventions in Somalia between 1992–95 for many people automatically mean the US contribution to the stabilization efforts of the country and the famous Black Hawk Down incident, which led to the UN pullout from the Horn of Africa. However, not only American troops gave their blood for peace and stability in Somalia, but also the former colonial power, Italy also sent a significant force to the UN mission with tanks, armoured cars and attack helicopters. Italfor Ibis played a significant role to collect weapons and control Via Imperial and Northern Mogadishu. The Italian contingent followed a completely different approach to the mission as the US or the UN, and they stressed upon the political solution in the crisis instead of the use of massive military force, which caused continuous tension between Italfor and the UN. In June 1993, because of the pressure of the UN and the Americans,
Italfor could not avoid the massive military operation any longer, and that led to fierce fights and the first lethal casualties of the Italian Army in combat since WWII. In my paper I explore the background of the Battle of Checkpoint Pasta, show the fights in detail and examine the effects of the operation.