Muammar Gaddafi US companies to cease operating in the country, although several hundred workers remained when the Libyan government doubled their pay. Diplomatic relations also broke down with the UK, after Libyan diplomats were accused in the killing of Yvonne Fletcher, a British policewoman stationed outside their London embassy, in April 1984. In Spring 1986, the US Navy again began performing exercises in the Gulf of Sirte; the Libyan military retaliated, but failed as the US sank several Libyan ships. After the US accused Libya of orchestrating the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, in which two American soldiers died, Reagan decided to retaliate
Embassy of the United States, Mogadishu nearly killed when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets and that evening, a soldier at a roadblock shot the tires of a vehicle carrying another defense official. Attempts by the US and other nations' diplomats, in particular the Italian embassy, to negotiate a ceasefire for foreigners to leave were unsuccessful. Afgoy Road became a "shooting gallery," preventing those in safe-havens outside the embassy to reach it. On New Year's Day, the first American civilians began to seek refuge at the embassy. Ambassador Bishop requested an evacuation of the American community on January 1, 1991, indicating that the evacuation could be