Battle of Checkpoint Pasta

Battle of Checkpoint Pasta
Part of the Somali Civil War and the UNOSOM II mission
Date 2 July 1993[1] Location Mogadishu, Somalia[1] Result Italian breakthrough from the encirclement[2]
Belligerents
Italy Somalia	SNA
Commanders and leaders
Bruno Loi Ali Mahdi Muhammad[citation needed]	Mohamed Farrah Aidid[3]
Strength
550 Italian troops + 400 Somali policeman[4]	Around 600 rebel Somali militiamen[5]
Casualties and losses
3 killed 22 wounded[6]	67 killed[7] 187 wounded[7]

The Battle of Checkpoint Pasta,^[1] sometimes called the Battle of the Pasta Factory, was a firefight in Mogadishu between Italian troops and Somali rebels, and is remembered for being the first all-out battle involving the Italian Army since the end of the Second World War.^[8]

The battle took place near the Italian checkpoint called "Pasta", because it was located near an abandoned Barilla pasta factory across the intersection of Imperial Street and 21 October Street, after an ambush on Italian forces was set up by Somali rebels led by General Mohamed Aidid.

The Italian units eventually broke the encirclement and withdrew.