Based on the bestselling book by Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down 1999), Black Hawk Down is an action-packed recounting of the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. Civil war had broken out in Somalia, and the conflict turned international when the United Nations intervened in 1992 to alleviate widespread starvation. The film portrays the mission in which U.S. troops were deployed to capture two of the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s lieutenants. This supposedly simple operation went horribly wrong when three Blackhawk helicopters were shot down. The rescue mission and the brotherhood among American soldiers form the foundation of the movie: the soldiers are determined to "Leave no man behind."