Word: somali
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...mongrel dogs, Whiskey and Pee Wee, along with his old job, has been in Mogadishu long enough to watch the city go from outright anarchy to "a place that almost feels safe." Bringing peace to Somalia's interior, however, may take some doing. In Baidoa, Purvis saw a young Somali no more than eight years old waltz up to a relief worker who was carrying a bag of cheese-flavored chips. "The kid had an AK-47 draped over his shoulder, its muzzle almost dragging in the dust," says Purvis. While Purvis watched, the pint-size gunman reached...
...under way, the 3,000 U.S. troops found themselves spread thin, trying to answer a host of competing demands. Most of the capital's armed thugs crept away, but soldiers had yet to impose more than a veneer of security. On Saturday, U.S. combat helicopters destroyed three armed Somali vehicles that had opened fire on the American gunship. Relief workers groused about poor communications and stalled food shipments; more urgent were the calls for help from Good Samaritans trapped in their compounds in outlying towns where marauding gunmen were still stealing, fighting and killing. Somali clan leaders pitched hard...
...strictly military terms, the venture is not especially daring or dangerous. First to go in will be 1,800 Marines from an amphibious task force that was diverted to the Somali coast two weeks ago. They are equipped for action and backed by two dozen Cobra attack helicopters. Somalia has no planes or helicopters in flying condition, so the U.S. will control the air. Once those units take over the airport in the capital of Mogadishu, they will be joined by 16,000 more Marines, 10,000 Army infantry troops and at least 5,000 soldiers from France, Canada...
...were necessary; only the U.S. could provide them. He also made it clear that the U.S. would not tolerate any opposition; indeed, the Security Council resolution suspended the rules that usually limit U.N. peacekeepers from shooting first. The Pentagon was not certain what kind of reception to expect from Somali gunmen, armed mostly with $ rifles and mortars, but spokesman Pete Williams said the U.S. was "not looking to go in with guns blazing...
...attempt to head off armed resistance, U.S. officials are meeting in Ethiopia with representatives of the major Somali factions. Some clan leaders, including the Mogadishu kingpin Mohammed Farrah Aidid, claim that they welcome U.S. intervention; Aidid even staged pro-American parades last week. But Western analysts suspect he simply hopes to improve his own position. If he and his rivals feel power slipping away, their attitude could quickly change. Clan chieftains do not, in any case, control all the thugs marauding through the country...