- Title: Somalia: Withdrawal
- Date: 1st March 1995
- Summary: Hundreds of Somali looters raided Mogadishu's airport on March 1 1995, after Pakistani United Nations troops withdrew to the seaport. The unarmed looters were followed by Somalia militiamen in their jeeps and trucks mounted with guns who fired wildly and also joined the looting. Bullets whistled over the heads of United States and Italian marines covering the evacuation of the UN forces and witnesses saw some fire back. The mayhem erupted at dawn, when the rear- guard of 1,500 Pakistani UN troops pulled back from the outer walls of the airfield base in a long convoy of tanks and armoured vehicles. Somali militias outside the airport gates and local unarmed police inside the airport had been positioned to stop crowds from invading the area. But the looters scaled the walls and stole everything. US Super Cobra attack helicopters based on Navy ships offshore swooped in and hovered over the coastline. The Pakistanis are the last troops to leave of a 30,000-strong U.N. force from 28 nations deployed in Somalia over the last two years as part of efforts to end famine and restore peace and govenrnment.
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- Location: SOMALIA MOGADISHU AIRPORTS
- Reuters ID: LDL00121UHX8J
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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- Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
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