3/18/1997

In a March 18, 1997 issue of the Daily Pakistan, journalist Hamid Mir interviewed Osama bin Laden. ” ‘It is true that my companions fought with [warlord Mohammed] Farah Adid’s forces against the US troops in Somalia,’ bin Laden said later. ‘But we were fighting against US terrorism. Under the cover of [the] United Nations, the United States tried to establish its bases in Somalia so that it could get control over Sudan and Yemen. My associates killed the Americans in collaboration with Farah Adid. We are not ashamed of our Jihad. In one explosion 100 Americans were killed, then 18 more were killed in fighting. One day our men shot down an American helicopter. The pilot got out. We caught him, tied his legs and dragged him through the streets. After that 28,000 US soldiers fled Somalia. The Americans are cowards.’ ”

 – Simon Reeve, The New Jackals, Page 182