Operation Deliverance was a

Canadian military The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defence Act'', t ...

operation in

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

that formed part of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

peace-making deployment to that country during the early part of the

Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War (; ) is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed ...

. The mission began on December 3, 1992, and involved about 1,400 Canadian troops, a helicopter unit and the supply ship .
While

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's mission objectives were largely completed, including the freeing of a captured Canadian journalist and the defeat of the Somali

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

Mohamed 'Tiger' I. Barre, Operation Deliverance turned into a political disaster for the Canadian Forces after several Somali civilians were brutally killed or injured in what became known as the

Somalia Affair The Somalia affair was a 1993 Canadian military scandal, prompted by the beating to death of Shidane Arone, a Somali teenager, at the hands of two Canadian peacekeepers participating in humanitarian efforts in Somalia. The act was documented by ...

. The Somalia Affair was largely responsible for the disbandment of the

Canadian Airborne Regiment The Canadian Airborne Regiment () was a Canadian Forces formation created on April 8, 1968. It was not an administrative regiment in the commonly accepted British Commonwealth sense, but rather a tactical formation manned from other regiments and ...

in 1995 and additionally resulted in numerous dismissals and resignations along the

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...

up to, but not including, the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

One Canadian soldier died during the mission, Corporal Michael David Abel of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. He was killed when a rifle being cleaned by a fellow soldier discharged accidentally.

References

{{Reflist *http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=974 *http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/peacekeeping/topics/723/ Conflicts in 1992 Military operations involving Canada United Nations operations in Somalia 1992 in Somalia 1993 in Somalia

See also

References