During the early 90s US soldiers stationed themselves in Somalia to help the area recover from the famine. During this time, the soldiers had problems with Somalia militias capturing food rations and taking them away from the civilians' use. Mohamed Farrah Aidid was the leader of this powerful militia and was eagerly sought after by the U.N. forces. The US soldiers came up with a plan to raid a city called Mogadishu and capture Aidid's two aids. The mission took place on October 3, 1993. Several groups of Army Rangers were sent it to Mogadishu to cut off all escape, while a Delta Force convoy was sent into the city to capture Aidid's two aids. The mission was running smoothly until heavy fire plagued the Delta Force convoy and one of the Ranger's Black Hawk Helicopters were shot down. A 30 minute mission turned into an 18 hour fight for survival as the Rangers and Delta Force soldiers were outarmed and outnumbered severely. A second Black Hawk Helicopter was shot down before the mission was over. In the end 18 American soldiers were killed and almost 1000 Somalis were killed. The mission was completed however. Delta Force successfully captured both of Aidid's aids.