1
00:00:22,856 --> 00:00:25,650
Early morning that day was peaceful.

2
00:00:27,861 --> 00:00:30,530
Soon after, I felt a slight labor pain.

3
00:00:40,206 --> 00:00:42,375
I was blessed with baby Amina.

4
00:00:43,668 --> 00:00:45,503
She was a beautiful baby girl,

5
00:00:46,671 --> 00:00:48,089
thanks to God.

6
00:00:53,136 --> 00:00:57,432
I was expecting
my relatives to visit and bring gifts

7
00:00:58,058 --> 00:00:59,726
but then the shooting began.

8
00:01:04,773 --> 00:01:08,109
Helicopters were hovering above.

9
00:01:10,945 --> 00:01:12,322
There was chaos all over the city.

10
00:01:14,491 --> 00:01:16,201
Then one helicopter was shot down.

11
00:01:21,748 --> 00:01:23,208
It crashed right outside our house…

12
00:01:25,376 --> 00:01:26,920
and I passed out.

13
00:01:27,837 --> 00:01:29,214
We thought it was all over.

14
00:04:23,304 --> 00:04:26,266
There was a plan
presented to us by General Aidid.

15
00:04:26,891 --> 00:04:31,437
If you get the chance,
capture the US soldiers alive,

16
00:04:31,980 --> 00:04:33,606
if not, kill them.

17
00:04:36,734 --> 00:04:41,531
Somalis were yelling
at each other to come out and fight.

18
00:04:51,249 --> 00:04:52,500
This is our land.

19
00:04:53,668 --> 00:04:55,253
If you touch a man's balls,

20
00:04:55,336 --> 00:04:57,505
he will fight you off
with his hands and legs.

21
00:05:18,276 --> 00:05:20,945
Even if 1,000 people died,
it doesn't matter.

22
00:05:21,029 --> 00:05:22,530
It's no problem.

23
00:05:22,613 --> 00:05:26,659
Our objective was the freedom of Somalia.

24
00:07:19,397 --> 00:07:20,982
When we were in the school,

25
00:07:21,524 --> 00:07:26,612
I had never heard artillery
or anything as loud as this before.

26
00:07:30,366 --> 00:07:34,454
The teacher stood up
and told the prefects to lock the doors.

27
00:07:35,371 --> 00:07:37,790
We didn't know what was going on outside.

28
00:08:21,459 --> 00:08:23,753
Around 20 children
were huddled on top of me.

29
00:08:23,836 --> 00:08:28,341
Some were vomiting and others passed out.

30
00:08:28,424 --> 00:08:31,260
I told myself, this is where I will die.

31
00:08:31,969 --> 00:08:33,763
I'll never see my parents again.

32
00:09:40,913 --> 00:09:45,585
In combat, the layout
of Mogadishu is to our advantage.

33
00:09:45,668 --> 00:09:48,170
We use the backstreets
so they can't see you.

34
00:10:28,919 --> 00:10:30,588
These men they brought here

35
00:10:30,671 --> 00:10:33,716
had never been in a single battle.
They were schoolboys.

36
00:10:33,799 --> 00:10:37,720
I was a fighter
with 30 or 40 battles under my belt,

37
00:10:38,512 --> 00:10:42,933
and for four months, we have been
defending our territory in Mogadishu.

38
00:13:10,790 --> 00:13:12,917
Everyone was volunteering themselves.

39
00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:16,003
The women who should have been scared,

40
00:13:16,712 --> 00:13:19,840
they were actually pointing out
the soldiers, "Over there! Over there!"

41
00:15:12,161 --> 00:15:15,080
When the helicopter crashed,
I had passed out.

42
00:15:15,789 --> 00:15:18,959
I woke up, disoriented from the shock.

43
00:15:20,961 --> 00:15:22,922
There were Americans standing over me.

44
00:15:23,964 --> 00:15:26,050
I was more and more scared.

45
00:15:26,133 --> 00:15:28,218
One of them approached us.

46
00:15:28,302 --> 00:15:30,471
He was angry and shouting.

47
00:15:32,306 --> 00:15:33,933
I was worried about my baby girl.

48
00:15:36,977 --> 00:15:38,938
We said, "We have no weapons,

49
00:15:39,521 --> 00:15:40,689
please spare us!"

50
00:15:50,824 --> 00:15:54,411
They said, "Get down on the floor!
Hands behind your back!"

51
00:15:54,495 --> 00:15:58,874
And they cuffed me with a cable tie.

52
00:15:58,958 --> 00:16:00,751
I was terrified.

53
00:16:00,834 --> 00:16:02,711
I thought he would be shot.

54
00:22:41,485 --> 00:22:43,236
We lived in Bakara market.

55
00:22:46,406 --> 00:22:50,911
My children were wonderful, and so young.

56
00:22:50,994 --> 00:22:52,704
They had a happy life,

57
00:22:52,788 --> 00:22:55,415
and their father provided all they needed.

58
00:22:57,125 --> 00:23:00,087
That day, I had taken
my mother to her brother's house.

59
00:23:00,170 --> 00:23:01,713
He was living
in the General Daud neighborhood.

60
00:23:02,506 --> 00:23:05,550
I was told the Americans attacked
Bakara and there is constant gunfire.

61
00:23:06,051 --> 00:23:08,553
I screamed, "Wow, that's my neighborhood!"

62
00:23:08,637 --> 00:23:12,099
"That is where my children are!"
And I ran.

63
00:23:13,433 --> 00:23:15,685
I ran and ran and ran.

64
00:23:19,064 --> 00:23:21,942
A man said, "What are you looking for?"
"My children!" I said.

65
00:23:28,865 --> 00:23:30,200
The helicopters!

66
00:23:37,207 --> 00:23:38,959
We were running away from the gunfire.

67
00:23:39,042 --> 00:23:40,544
It was spraying everywhere.

68
00:23:40,627 --> 00:23:46,007
I saw a fat Somali woman
walking in the road.

69
00:23:46,591 --> 00:23:49,469
The helicopter came close to her

70
00:23:49,553 --> 00:23:50,762
and shot her in the head.

71
00:23:51,346 --> 00:23:54,933
She fell and died instantly. She died.

72
00:23:55,016 --> 00:24:00,313
I screamed, "Oh my God!
She died! She died! She died!"

73
00:24:00,397 --> 00:24:03,608
People dragged her under a tree

74
00:24:03,692 --> 00:24:05,944
where there were children
who had also been shot.

75
00:24:06,695 --> 00:24:08,780
I was certain that
my children must be there

76
00:24:08,864 --> 00:24:11,533
so I was checking all the faces

77
00:24:11,616 --> 00:24:13,785
but I couldn't find them.

78
00:26:19,536 --> 00:26:22,289
The Americans were killing
everyone in sight.

79
00:26:22,372 --> 00:26:27,043
Dead bodies were scattered
like bullet casings in the street.

80
00:30:16,397 --> 00:30:20,193
General Aidid came to us that afternoon.

81
00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:26,533
He was dressed in traditional
Somali attire and armed with an AK-47.

82
00:30:28,201 --> 00:30:29,619
He gave us clear instructions.

83
00:30:31,162 --> 00:30:33,873
"Keep fighting, victory is imminent."

84
00:30:33,957 --> 00:30:35,875
So we pressed on.

85
00:31:04,571 --> 00:31:07,824
We were firing at each other
100 meters apart, sometimes even closer.

86
00:31:13,079 --> 00:31:15,081
My comrades fired an RPG towards them.

87
00:31:26,342 --> 00:31:30,805
We were engulfed in smoke and dust.

88
00:31:31,431 --> 00:31:36,227
Even the soldiers were scared
and screaming.

89
00:32:02,211 --> 00:32:08,551
We were told that there is
a family trapped in the house.

90
00:32:12,513 --> 00:32:14,641
The Americans were holding them
as a human shield,

91
00:32:15,141 --> 00:32:16,434
to save their own lives.

92
00:32:21,105 --> 00:32:23,024
We could hear them.

93
00:32:23,107 --> 00:32:26,235
They were arguing,
"Should we kill them all, or spare them?"

94
00:32:26,319 --> 00:32:27,779
One group wanted to spare us

95
00:32:28,404 --> 00:32:32,700
and another group wanted
to kill us along with the Americans.

96
00:32:36,579 --> 00:32:38,456
I was against the shelling

97
00:32:39,374 --> 00:32:41,918
but some people, who were very angry,

98
00:32:42,001 --> 00:32:43,795
said that we should
attack them with more RPGs

99
00:32:43,878 --> 00:32:45,380
so the Americans don't escape.

100
00:32:47,799 --> 00:32:50,259
We thought, "It's over."

101
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:53,513
We will be killed together
with the American soldiers.

102
00:32:57,850 --> 00:33:01,145
If they got hurt, then so would we.

103
00:33:02,897 --> 00:33:04,691
It was in our interest
for them to survive.

104
00:33:16,828 --> 00:33:19,664
We were told to stay seated.

105
00:33:19,747 --> 00:33:24,502
"Don't worry, we won't harm you."

106
00:33:27,505 --> 00:33:30,550
"Don't be scared.
If you need anything, just ask."

107
00:33:31,217 --> 00:33:32,969
I was surprised for sure.

108
00:33:33,052 --> 00:33:35,722
But then all people, regardless of whether

109
00:33:35,805 --> 00:33:37,974
they are white people or Muslims

110
00:33:38,057 --> 00:33:41,602
have kindness in their hearts.

111
00:37:35,002 --> 00:37:37,171
Passing a nearby road,

112
00:37:37,255 --> 00:37:41,008
we saw a helicopter hit by an RPG.

113
00:37:41,092 --> 00:37:43,970
The helicopter began to emit
huge amounts of smoke.

114
00:38:20,506 --> 00:38:22,216
We celebrated, praising God.

115
00:38:22,925 --> 00:38:24,802
"God is great, thanks be to God!"

116
00:38:25,469 --> 00:38:28,431
It went down
about 300 to 400 meters away from us

117
00:38:29,348 --> 00:38:31,517
and we ran to it.

118
00:38:36,314 --> 00:38:39,859
I wanted to be the first
to get to the crash site.

119
00:39:59,063 --> 00:40:00,940
We were running towards home

120
00:40:02,066 --> 00:40:03,401
and then I reached the house.

121
00:40:05,820 --> 00:40:09,407
My son Abdirahman said,
"Mom, I am here with the kids."

122
00:40:15,996 --> 00:40:17,748
My husband was holding the Qur'an,

123
00:40:17,832 --> 00:40:19,667
and tears were flowing down his cheeks.

124
00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:22,044
I told him to stop reading the Qur'an,

125
00:40:22,628 --> 00:40:23,796
and run with the children.

126
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,551
He said "God is everywhere,
and there is nowhere to run."

127
00:40:28,634 --> 00:40:29,844
"Let's just stay."

128
00:40:39,311 --> 00:40:43,441
I was shot here. I thought
I'd lost my hand, it twisted around.

129
00:40:46,569 --> 00:40:48,320
The room was filled with bullets.

130
00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:58,080
I was crying, "My children!
My children! My children!"

131
00:40:59,540 --> 00:41:01,459
"Are they dead or alive?"

132
00:41:11,218 --> 00:41:14,263
The battle raged on all around us.

133
00:41:14,346 --> 00:41:17,099
We said, "Let's fight until we die."

134
00:41:17,183 --> 00:41:18,225
We made that decision.

135
00:41:58,641 --> 00:42:01,560
The gunfire intensified.

136
00:42:05,147 --> 00:42:07,274
We assumed we would die.

137
00:42:07,858 --> 00:42:09,276
We wouldn't make it out.

138
00:42:12,780 --> 00:42:14,532
The teacher said it's time to leave.

139
00:42:15,407 --> 00:42:17,159
I approached the school door.

140
00:42:17,701 --> 00:42:22,414
I decided to try and run home.

141
00:42:26,043 --> 00:42:27,294
I left the school.

142
00:42:30,589 --> 00:42:31,924
And I was barefoot.

143
00:42:32,550 --> 00:42:34,552
It was dark, and I was alone.

144
00:42:36,011 --> 00:42:37,805
I was really scared.

145
00:42:38,847 --> 00:42:40,057
I was so scared.

146
00:45:40,988 --> 00:45:45,993
Subtitle translation by: Anu Akiyode