Operation Provide Relief was a United States spearheaded humanitarian relief airlift that ran from August to December 1992 in response to the famine in Somalia. This effort was assisted by the United Nations Operation in Somalia I mission, in light of a severe food crisis initiated and exacerbated by ongoing factional fighting. However, there were significant obstructions to delivering relief aid due to the security situation. This prompted the UN to pass Resolution 794, which paved the way for the more robust, multinational Unified Task Force operation in December 1992.
Rules of Engagement for Operation Provide Relief, 1992.
Eighteen U.S. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130s flew 20 missions per day from Moi International Airport (Mombasa Airport) to Somalia for Operation Provide Relief.
United Nations Operation in Somalia I
United Nations Operation in Somalia I was the first part of a United Nations (UN) sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali Civil War conflict in the early 1990s.
UNOSOM Egyptian Fahd 240 APC
Australian soldiers prepare to board a US Marine Corps helicopter in Somalia