In late 1993, Al-Qaeda made history when Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Saif al-Adel, and Mohammed Al-Harazi coordinated with Somali collaborators to launch a violent coup against the Somali government.

The coup started as an act of terrorism; in the early morning of April 15, 1996, a combined force of about 6,000 militants and civilians infiltrated Somalia. Images and videos appeared to show heavily armed and masked militants dressed in black fatigues riding pickup trucks alongside armed Somali civilian collaborators stormed the capital city of Mogadishu and launched an indiscriminate massacre of civilians, law enforcement and military personnel alike with automatic rifles and machine guns.

In addition to massacring people in the streets, the attackers kidnapped an estimated 278 civilians as hostages.

The attacks culminated in the storming of the [Villa Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Somalia), where they executed both the Somali President and Prime Minister, as well as everyone loyal to both of them.

In the immediate aftermath, Osama bin Laden took power, installing Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Al-Harazi as his “emissaries”, before proclaiming Mogadishu to be the capital of the new “Islamic Emirate of Somalia.”

Image credit:
1. Imfdb
2. Medal of Honor wiki
3. Wikipedia 

1993 Somali Coup (Fallen Kingdom Universe)