U.S. Sends Gunships to Aid U.N. in Somalia : Africa: Wave of clan violence prompts move to beef up firepower. Military action against warlord is thought likely.

The Clinton Administration, moving to meet the most serious challenge yet to U.S. policy in Somalia, took new steps Wednesday to strengthen U.N. firepower there in preparation for likely military action to quell the recent wave of clan insurgency.

In a surprise move, the Pentagon ordered to the Somali capital of Mogadishu four Air Force AC-130 Spectre gunships capable of providing air support for troops or wiping out Somali weapons and arms caches.

Two of the aircraft were expected to arrive by early this morning Somali time, and two were scheduled to be sent there this weekend. The planes, part of the Air Force special operations detachment, are based in Hurlburt Air Force Base in Florida.

Meanwhile, U.S. and French reinforcements, accompanied by tanks, arrived in Mogadishu from other parts of Somalia amid growing expectations that U.N. forces would launch an attack against warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid, whose forces killed 23 Pakistani troops in an ambush last Saturday.

It was not immediately clear how or when the U.N. forces might retaliate. U.S. officials said the U.N. command in Mogadishu is still discussing tactics and equipment with Washington.

There was no question, however, that the Clinton Administration, which had been giving low priority to Somalia until the attack on the Pakistanis, now is keenly concerned about developments there and ready to act in support of U.N. units.

Administration officials said that unless U.N. troops retaliate soon--and in force--the challenge posed by the Somali warlords last weekend could “blow the credibility” of both the Somalia operation and U.N. peacekeeping ventures around the world.

“There’s no underestimating the importance of this situation,” one official here said.

Robert B. Oakley, who served as chief U.S. coordinator of the initial U.S. operation there, agreed.

“It has been no surprise to anybody that sooner or later there was going to be a big test of the U.N. forces in Somalia,” he said. “It appears that that test has now arrived.”

Both State Department and Pentagon officials were closemouthed about the possibility of U.N. military action in Somalia anytime soon, however. State Department spokesman Joe Snyder declined to comment Wednesday on what options U.S. and U.N. commanders might be considering.

But Snyder noted pointedly that existing U.N. Security Council resolutions authorize U.N. forces in Somalia to “take all necessary measures” to enforce U.N. mandates for the area, including the confiscation of weapons agreed to at a peace council in Addis Ababa last spring.

U.S. officials said that the aim of any new U.N. military action would be to knock out the bulk of Aidid’s remaining weapons and take over the radio station that he runs--in the process dealing such a big blow to his stature that he would lose face among his followers.

Strategists also want the United Nations to mount a large enough attack to discourage other, rival clan leaders from launching similar attacks on U.N. forces.

Despite the expected arrival of the AC-130 gunships, officials said Wednesday that it is not clear exactly how the aircraft might be used. Aidid was reported to be moving his weapons into busy downtown areas of Mogadishu, where use of the AC-130s could risk harming innocent civilians. In any case, strategists said, much of any attack would have to be carried out by tanks and infantry units.

Administration officials clearly were frustrated over the seeming delays by U.N. commanders in launching retaliatory attacks for last Saturday’s uprising.

They pointed out that the Administration is hamstrung because the Somali operation is under U.N.--not U.S.--control, and Washington cannot move unless U.N. commanders approve.

Strategists said that the United Nations has relatively few options in dealing with the situation in Somalia besides destroying most of Aidid’s weapons stockpile. Targeting him for assassination almost certainly would spark a political backlash.

At the same time, they said, attempting to negotiate with Aidid would be interpreted as a sign of weakness and could undercut the Somalia operation. Doing nothing would destroy the United Nations’ credibility and end any hope of restoring political order to Somalia.

Sources familiar with Wednesday’s action said that the Pentagon decided to rush the AC-130s to Somalia out of growing concern about the firepower in the U.N. arsenal. Although U.N. forces have some tanks and helicopters, analysts said, U.S. forces took back many of their heavier weapons when they turned over the peacekeeping mission to U.N. troops in May.

In some instances, they said, U.N. troops have even been outgunned by Aidid’s forces.

Part of the problem has stemmed from the United Nations’ slow pace in assembling its forces in Somalia. Some countries have not followed through on promises to contribute troops to the operation.

Officials said Wednesday that about 8,000 of the 28,000 troops initially promised to U.N. forces actually have arrived. The United States now has about 4,500 service personnel in the country, including 1,200 assigned to a special Army quick-reaction force.

In Mogadishu on Wednesday, Turkish tanks took up position outside U.N. headquarters in the central part of the city even as U.N. officials moved out to the heavily fortified U.N. military headquarters on the outskirts.

International relief workers said the officials had briefed them to expect “collateral damage” from a military strike. While U.N. troops increased security at key installations, the few relief workers still in the city retreated behind sandbagged walls. The American relief organization CARE evacuated its two remaining international workers from the city, and the British charity Save the Children Fund moved into a well-protected compound farther away from Aidid’s residence.

A High-Powered Attack Plane

The AC-130s the United States is sending to Somalia feature sophisticated firing systems. Their sweeping two-kilowatt searchlights give them night-operation capability.

Crew: 14

Dimensions: Length, 98 feet; wingspan, 133 feet

Range: 2,000 miles

Prime contractor: Lockheed

Weapons: Two 7-mm miniguns, two 20-mm Vulcan cannons, two 40-mm Bofors cannons

Primary functions: Armed reconnaissance, close-air support, search and recovery

Source: U.S. Air Force