The World - News from Aug. 5, 1987

Thousands of U.S. Marines swept ashore on the desert coast of northern Somalia while carrier-based jets strafed positions near the capital of Mogadishu in a mock invasion. The maneuvers are aimed at testing American ability to defend oil fields in the nearby Persian Gulf. U.S. officials in Mogadishu said many of the troops taking part in the exercise, called Bright Star ‘87, were brought from the United States, Japan and the Indian Ocean island base of Diego Garcia. Under a 1980 agreement between Washington and Mogadishu, U.S. forces have base facilities at the port and airfield at Berbera, which is strategically situated near the southern entrance to the Red Sea.