Date: 22nd January 2002

Black Hawk Down Under Fire


New Hollywood movie BLACK HAWK DOWN (2002) has come under fire in Malaysia for ignoring the role of Malaysian troops in rescuing American soldiers during a battle in Somalia in 1993. Retired Brigadier-General Abdul Latif Ahmad, who commanded Malaysian forces serving with the United Nations in Somalia at that time, says they were in the thick of the action.

He says he wants to set the record straight so moviegoers don't get the wrong impression that the real battle was fought by the Americans, while Malaysians were mere bus drivers to ferry them out. He says RIDLEY SCOTT's tale of the abortive 1993 US military intervention in Somalia features only a glimpse of Asian-looking people helping to extricate trapped American soldiers.

The truth, says the former commander, is the Americans were saved by a rescue force of 113 Malaysian troops deployed in 32 Condor armoured personnel carriers after two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu. He supports his claim with letters of praise from senior American officers thanking the Malaysians for saving US soldiers.

Source: WENN