between the government and rebels came within about of Mogadishu. Collapse of the Barre government On 30 December, violence escalated "an order of magnitude" as militants entered Mogadishu, which was quickly enveloped by a general state of lawlessness. On 30–31 December, diplomats, including many stationed in offices elsewhere in the city, were collected and housed in the embassy compound, except two volunteers who remained in the embassy's K-7 residential apartments located across Afgoy Road from the embassy. The volunteers in the K-7 building would be needed as look-outs for the embassy compound's main gate. On the morning of 31 December, the defense attaché was 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 from reaching 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 1 January, indicating that the evacuation could be with the planned Italian, French, or German evacuation efforts, but preferred an evacuation by the US military. The State Department authorized the evacuation on 2 January and on that day, Ambassador Bishop specifically requested an evacuation by the US military, thereby initiating Operation Eastern Exit. Ambassador Bishop had spent a considerable amount of time discussing contingency plans for evacuation with other diplomatic posts. Ultimately, ten heads of missions—eight ambassadors and two chargés d'affaires—along with their staff sought refuge in the US embassy compound and were evacuated. Plans, mobilization, and escalating violence Ambassador Bishop had visited Central Command in August 1990, where he worked with military experts to update the embassy's E&E plan. The first notice that an evacuation of the Mogadishu embassy would be needed came on the morning of 1 January, when the top naval commander at Central Command sent a message to his naval operations staff: "Better have Amphib crowd take a look at a helo NEO of Mogadishu! time/distance to get there from Masirah OP area." Following the ambassador's 2 January evacuation request, the commander of Central Command ordered Air Force aircraft to the region, the movement of amphibious ships to Mogadishu, and requested