# 4 Oct 2017:  3 U.S. Army special operation commandos killed in ambush in Niger



## Rifleman62 (4 Oct 2017)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/10/04/u-s-troops-take-hostile-fire-in-niger/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_usniger-750pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.aec649683862

*3 Army special operation commandos killed in ambush in Niger, U.S. officials tell AP* -Alex Horton - October 4 at 9:15 PM 

A joint U.S. and Nigerien patrol came under hostile fire in southwest Niger, U.S. Africa Command said Wednesday.

“We are working to confirm details on the incident and will have more information as soon as we can confirm facts on the ground,” a command spokesman told The Washington Post.

The spokesman did not confirm whether any service members were killed or wounded and did not elaborate on the nature of the patrol. He also did not say when the attack occurred. The Associated Press reported the attack occurred north of the capital Niamey near the Mali border.

The United States has expanded its operations in Niger in recent years, including surveillance drone flights piloted from Niamey. The U.S. is also finishing construction on an installation at Agadez, a central city in the Sahara that will also closer fights to southern Libya and northern Mali to watch militants traversing remote desert stretches.

U.S. troops are tasked with training missions in Niger to combat extremist groups in the region, including security assistance with intelligence and reconnaissance efforts. al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates in Mali, further straining security on the border region.

Additionally, The Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group conducts advise and assist missions in Niger. A soldier from the unit died in a vehicle accident in February.

Africa Command’s statement came after unconfirmed reports of U.S. service members’ deaths in Niger from French-language radio station RFI, which details an incident on the border with Mali.

Nasser Weddady, a regional security analyst, told The Post it was unusual for U.S. troops to operate far into the western parts of the country.

- mod edit to thread title to add date, clarify U.S. pers involved -


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## Rifleman62 (5 Oct 2017)

Update

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/10/04/u-s-troops-take-hostile-fire-in-niger/?utm_term=.9eeba77d55cb

*Elite U.S. troops killed and wounded during surprise attack in Niger* - Alex Horton October 5 at 8:26 AM

Three U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were killed in Niger in northwestern Africa on Wednesday after their joint patrol with Nigerien forces was ambushed.

One “partner nation member” also died, and two other Americans were wounded, according to U.S. Africa Command, which released new details about the incident early Thursday. The wounded were evacuated to a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where they were in stable condition, officials said.

The Pentagon has not disclosed the troops’ names or service affiliation, pending notification of their families. Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, confirmed for The Washington Post that those involved were assigned to an elite Special Forces unit.

The incident occurred near the border with Mali. It was first reported Wednesday by the New York Times.

U.S. Africa Command, which is based in Stuttgart, Germany, has provided no details about the mission, except to say it was for counterterrorism purposes. It’s unclear, though, why this unit would come into contact with enemy forces while performing what’s typically considered a training and advisory role.

The deaths mark the first known hostile-fire casualties in Niger. A 3rd Special Forces Group soldier was killed in a vehicle accident there in February.

Local media reported that the joint patrol was lured into an ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo in the Tillaberi region. The attackers were described as coming from neighboring Mali, where al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch has been battling both the government and a French-led coalition seeking to root them out of their desert hideouts.

The United States has expanded its operations in Niger in recent years, including surveillance drone flights piloted from Niamey, the capital. The United States is also finishing construction on an installation at Agadez, a central city in the Sahara, that will move flights closer to southern Libya and northern Mali. Closer proximity will allow longer flights, giving drone operators more time to monitor remote desert stretches where militants are known to traverse.

The 3rd Special Forces Group and other forces are tasked with training missions in Niger to combat extremist groups in the region, including security assistance with intelligence and reconnaissance efforts. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates in Mali, further straining security on the border region.

Nasser Weddady, a regional security analyst, told The Post it was unusual for U.S. troops to operate far into the western parts of the country. However, the Drive website reported that the Pentagon contracted fuel deliveries for Ouallam, a city about halfway between the capital and the Mali border.

Weapons flooded into the remote Sahara desert region after the fall of Moammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya in 2011, arming Tuareg separatists and Islamist militants who took refuge there.

An al-Qaeda-linked group briefly took over most of northern Mali in 2012 before it was defeated by a French military intervention. Remnants of the group still carry out attacks and kidnap Westerners.

Niger also faces spillover from the radical Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, which has expanded into attacking neighboring countries.


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## tomahawk6 (6 Oct 2017)

A fourth soldier had been MIA,but Niger forces recovered the body. So 4 SF were killed and two others were wounded and are at a US military hospital in Germany.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/10/06/fourth-us-soldier-was-killed-in-niger-ambush.html


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## Retired AF Guy (8 Oct 2017)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> A fourth soldier had been MIA,but Niger forces recovered the body. So 4 SF were killed and two others were wounded and are at a US military hospital in Germany.
> 
> http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/10/06/fourth-us-soldier-was-killed-in-niger-ambush.html



Plus four Nigerian soldiers killed. More here:



> Green Berets attend memorial of Nigerien soldiers killed while Pentagon inconsistent on Niger
> 
> SOFREP Original Content
> 
> ...



Article Link


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## Retired AF Guy (8 Oct 2017)

More info on the French response to the ambush:



> French Special Forces responded to Green Berets ambushed in Niger.
> 
> SOFREP Original Content
> BY DEREK GANNON 10.05.2017#EXPERT ANALYSIS
> ...



Article Link


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## tomahawk6 (8 Oct 2017)

The French support was the difference and saved lives. Half of the ODA were either killed or wounded,a loss the SF hadnt suffered. Training kicked in when the ambush began the only thing left to do was to assault the ambushers.


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## daftandbarmy (17 Oct 2017)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> The French support was the difference and saved lives. Half of the ODA were either killed or wounded,a loss the SF hadnt suffered. Training kicked in when the ambush began the only thing left to do was to assault the ambushers.



One can only hope they hot pursued the ambushers to the logical conclusion.... not doing so would encourage future ambushes.


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## tomahawk6 (19 Oct 2017)

The SECDEF released a bit more info on the ambush and aftermath.The US needs to provide more aviation and air support to our deployment in Niger. We had to rely on contractos to fly our the wounded. I would think adding A-10's and helicopters would be an immediate need. Throw in a Spooky gunship and a robust QRF,i vote for a Canadian rifle company,the PM would bolster his street cred. O0

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/pentagon-troops-never-left-battlespace-in-niger-during-nearly-two-day-search-for-missing-soldier-1.493412

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military is searching for answers into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of four U.S. soldiers killed two weeks ago in an ambush in Niger as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis conceded Thursday that little about the attack is known, including how one soldier became separated from the rest of his unit.

“I will just tell you in this specific case, contact was considered unlikely,” Mattis said at the Pentagon as he sought to quell speculation that Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was found dead after a nearly 48-hour search, was left behind by his fellow soldiers.


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## daftandbarmy (19 Oct 2017)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> The SECDEF released a bit more info on the ambush and aftermath.The US needs to provide more aviation and air support to our deployment in Niger. We had to rely on contractos to fly our the wounded. I would think adding A-10's and helicopters would be an immediate need. Throw in a Spooky gunship and a robust QRF,i vote for a Canadian rifle company,the PM would bolster his street cred. O0
> 
> https://www.stripes.com/news/us/pentagon-troops-never-left-battlespace-in-niger-during-nearly-two-day-search-for-missing-soldier-1.493412
> 
> ...



Better int might be nice too, and result in more dead bad guys before they whack the good guys.


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## tomahawk6 (19 Oct 2017)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> Better int might be nice too, and result in more dead bad guys before they whack the good guys.



Good point. umpkin:


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## Old Sweat (20 Oct 2017)

Side issue: Sgt Johnson, the "fourth soldier," is wearing Canadian jump wings in the picture used by CNN.


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## tomahawk6 (11 Nov 2017)

Here is an update.SGT Johnson who was found some distance from the ambush site had been captured and executed.The soldiers killed in the ambush had been stripped of their uniforms and gear.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/us-soldier-in-niger-ambush-was-bound-and-apparently-executed-villagers-say/2017/11/10/3aebba3e-c442-11e7-9922-4151f5ca6168_story.html?utm_term=.0cf33762fc4e

NIAMEY, Niger — The body of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants in Niger last month, was found with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head, according to two villagers, suggesting that he may have been captured and then executed.


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## jollyjacktar (11 Nov 2017)

Not surprising the terrorists did that.


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## daftandbarmy (11 Nov 2017)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> Here is an update.SGT Johnson who was found some distance from the ambush site had been captured and executed.The soldiers killed in the ambush had been stripped of their uniforms and gear.
> 
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/us-soldier-in-niger-ambush-was-bound-and-apparently-executed-villagers-say/2017/11/10/3aebba3e-c442-11e7-9922-4151f5ca6168_story.html?utm_term=.0cf33762fc4e
> 
> NIAMEY, Niger — The body of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants in Niger last month, was found with his arms tied and a gaping wound at the back of his head, according to two villagers, suggesting that he may have been captured and then executed.



As an armchair QB, it would seem that a good QRF could have dealt with that.


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## tomahawk6 (12 Nov 2017)

I fault the command for changing the mission on the fly,which allowed the bad guys to ambush the patrol. As you know a well prepared ambush would kill everyone in minutes. Having air support overhead would have made the difference.The French saved their bacon or else the patrol would have been wiped out. I think the US advisors were targeted thinking the Niger troops would have been easy pickings by the bad guys. Fortunately the government troops performed well.


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## FJAG (11 May 2018)

Commander AFRICOM is addressing changes as a result of the report into this incident.

DoD web page is here:

https://www.defense.gov/news/special-reports/Niger/

Article re commander's statement here:

https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1518069/africom-chief-details-changes-made-to-mitigate-risks-after-niger-attack/

Summary of the Report is here:

https://www.defense.gov/portals/1/features/2018/0418_niger/img/Oct-2017-Niger-Ambush-Summary-of-Investigation.pdf

 :cheers:


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## Rifleman62 (18 May 2018)

https://taskandpurpose.com/u-s-troops-in-niger-were-nearly-wiped-out/?bsft_eid=6bf83495-323c-4e87-a849-2a6f864fd212&utm_campaign=tp_daily_thursday_pm&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tp_daily_pm_ricks&bsft_pid=e9b2feef-45f2-406f-86a5-8031ecef2af0&bsft_clkid=7f439b02-600b-491b-ae87-91e8975cb334&bsft_uid=1fba1701-e094-4757-90c5-0bf8c4675b71&bsft_mid=79677d25-996f-4405-abd1-53e310855821&bsft_pp=6

*More US Troops In Niger Were Nearly Wiped Out During Ambush And Chaotic Rescue*-By JEFF SCHOGOL  on May 17, 2018  


The full transcript of a video shown to Congress about the Niger ambush that killed four soldiers last October makes it clear that ISIS came close to massacring the other 38 U.S. and Nigerien troops that day.

The entire video, which runs more than 20 minutes, was shown to members of Congress ahead of the Pentagon’s May 10 news conference about the findings of an investigation into the Oct. 4, 2017, ambush near Tongo Tongo. *Reporters saw a truncated 10-minute version of the video ahead of the briefing, * (At Link) and the transcript was distributed to reporters Thursday on CD-ROMs.

Although the team’s mission was characterized as civil-military reconnaissance, the goal of the U.S. and Nigerien troops was to “capture — or, if necessary, kill” an ISIS commander believed to be in the area, the video’s transcript says.
The team consisted of eight Special Forces soldiers, two special operations support soldiers, one intelligence contractor, on Nigerien interpreter, and 34 Nigerien troops, the transcript says. The U.S. troops traveled in three vehicles equipped with mounted M240 machine guns.

During the ambush, two of the U.S. vehicles became immobilized. In the one working vehicle, five passengers suffered gunshot wounds, including the driver, who was shot through the elbow but continued to drive. The team commander was riding in the back of the truck until he was thrown off. The driver circled back to pick him up and they continued on until the truck got stuck in the mud.
After the team established a defensive position, “They wrote short messages to loved ones on personal devices, believing they would soon be overrun,” according to the transcript.

Two French Mirage aircraft arrived, but unable to tell friend from foe, they only flew show-or-force missions, which eventually prompted the enemy fighters pursing the team to retreat.

A Nigerien reaction force arrived on the scene about four hours after the team radioed for help, but they initially fired on the friendly team for 48 seconds because they mistook the U.S. and Nigerien troops for enemy fighters. “Fortunately, no one was injured further,” the transcript says.

Sgt. La David Johnson’s body was found around noon on Oct. 6. As U.S. officials have repeatedly stated, he was never captured alive, the transcript says.


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## daftandbarmy (18 May 2018)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> https://taskandpurpose.com/u-s-troops-in-niger-were-nearly-wiped-out/?bsft_eid=6bf83495-323c-4e87-a849-2a6f864fd212&utm_campaign=tp_daily_thursday_pm&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tp_daily_pm_ricks&bsft_pid=e9b2feef-45f2-406f-86a5-8031ecef2af0&bsft_clkid=7f439b02-600b-491b-ae87-91e8975cb334&bsft_uid=1fba1701-e094-4757-90c5-0bf8c4675b71&bsft_mid=79677d25-996f-4405-abd1-53e310855821&bsft_pp=6
> 
> *More US Troops In Niger Were Nearly Wiped Out During Ambush And Chaotic Rescue*-By JEFF SCHOGOL  on May 17, 2018
> 
> ...



“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.” 

― Lao Tzu


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## Rifleman62 (11 Dec 2018)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/us/politics/niger-mattis.html

*Mattis Erupts Over Niger Inquiry and Army Revisits Who Is to Blame* - 7 Dec 18

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was livid last month when he summoned top military officials to a video conference at the Pentagon to press them about an investigation into a 2017 ambush in Niger that killed four Americans on a Green Beret team. His anger, Pentagon officials said, came from seeing news reports that junior officers were being reprimanded for the botched Niger mission while the officers directly above them were not. Days later, a senior officer who had largely escaped punishment was told he would be reprimanded. Another senior officer’s actions before and around the time of the mission were also under new scrutiny. And this week, Capt. Michael Perozeni, a more junior officer who had received much of the public blame for the mission received word from the Army: His reprimand was rescinded. The turnaround is evidence of the troubled search for accountability in an incident that left a small team of underequipped and poorly supported American soldiers in the African scrub to be overrun by fighters loyal to the Islamic State. More than a year after the ambush — the American military’s largest loss of life in Africa since the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle in Somalia — top military leaders continue to battle over how to apportion blame and who should be held accountable.

The Pentagon still has not issued a final summation laying out who bears responsibility for the events leading up to the ambush. An initial Defense Department investigation, begun 14 months ago and partially released in May, found widespread problems across all levels of the military counterterrorism operation, but focused in particular on the actions of junior officers leading up to the ambush.
Punishments are in legal limbo, as are, apparently, commendations for bravery. An unredacted version of the investigation, promised in May, has yet to be delivered. And unlike two naval collisions last year in the Pacific that led within weeks to the removal of the commander of the Navy’s largest operational battle force, no top generals have been ushered out the door in the Niger case — an example officials say that Mr. Mattis has been quick to point out. Cmdr. Candice Tresch, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement on Thursday that the Defense Department has “made improvements at all levels” after the ambush. But she offered no further details, citing the continuing investigation.

The slow pace of accountability has infuriated Mr. Mattis, who officials say is dissatisfied with the punishments given largely to junior officers. The reprimands were first reported by The Times after a longer Times investigation into the ambush. The only senior officer to receive a letter of reprimand so far is Maj. Gen. Marcus Hicks, the head of Special Operations forces in Africa, who was already planning to retire. The delays have led to recriminations within the military’s individual fiefs. Army Gen. Tony Thomas, the leader of Special Operations Command — which includes Green Berets, Navy SEALs and other American commandos around the world — has complained that his troops have been singled out for fault. He has also leveled criticism that Pentagon leaders are protecting United States Africa Command, which oversees missions across the continent. In a memo to Mr. Mattis on Oct. 1, General Thomas blamed bad relations between Africa Command and the last commander of American commandos in Africa, Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, as one reason for the failed mission. The memo, obtained by The Times, said the internal tensions had “hindered the ability of commanders, at both levels, to understand, communicate, assess and mitigate risk as events transpired” in October 2017.

Animosity erupted during the video conference at the Pentagon last month between Mr. Mattis; Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Army chief of staff; Mark Esper, the Army secretary; Owen West, the military’s top civilian Special Operations policy official; and Paul C. Ney Jr., the Pentagon general counsel. General Thomas called in from his headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Mr. Mattis wasn’t the only one angry, Defense Department officials said. Army officials complained to aides that Mr. Mattis and Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had contributed to the morass by allowing Africa Command, whose leader, Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, is also a Marine, to essentially investigate itself by appointing General Waldhauser’s own chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr., to conduct the inquiry. The blowback from the video conference was almost immediate. Maj. Gen. Edwin J. Deedrick Jr., the officer in charge of administering internal punishments, was quickly told by Army leaders to re-examine some of the reprimands from the investigation.

Included in the initial batch of reprimands was one for Captain Perozeni, the leader of the team in Niger that came under attack. Africa Command leaders singled out Captain Perozeni and another junior officer in the early public accounting of the ambush for having “mischaracterized” the mission in a preliminary planning document sent to superiors as a trip to meet with tribal leaders, not a counterterrorism effort. But in a classified version of the report, investigators found that Captain Perozeni had pushed back on orders to continue the mission as a capture-or-kill raid on a local militant. Captain Perozeni said he did not have the necessary equipment or intelligence and asked that the Green Beret team be allowed to return to base. Instead, a battalion commander based in Chad, Lt. Col. David Painter, ordered the team to continue. They did, and were attacked by dozens of Islamic State militants.

During the ambush, which lasted more than five hours, there were multiple acts of heroism, according to the May report and video from cameras mounted on the men’s helmets. Captain Perozeni tried to hold together a unit that had communications problems, lightly armored vehicles and unreliable Nigerien forces as allies. At one point, Captain Perozeni was shot and thrown from the bed of his truck. Its driver, Sgt. First Class Brent Bartels, was shot in the arm but kept going. Wounded, he turned around and went back to get Captain Perozeni.

The initial reprimands, which also singled out other junior officers and enlisted men, skipped Colonel Painter and Col. Brad Moses, who was the commander of the Green Beret group in Western Africa at the time. After the video conference at the Pentagon, General Deedrick informed Colonel Painter that he would be receiving a letter of reprimand. Colonel Moses, a rising star in the Special Operations community, has not been reprimanded, although officials said the Army is now taking a harder look at his actions. Maj. Alan Van Saun, Captain Perozeni’s company commander, who was home on paternity leave during the ambush but had been reprimanded for what the investigation cited as insufficient training of his unit, this week received a permanent letter of reprimand — a document that essentially ended his career.

Although the investigation continues, General Thomas has decided to oversee the awards for Captain Perozeni’s team in what officials called an effort to set the record straight on the battle. In recent weeks General Thomas flew to Fort Bragg, N.C., the home of the Green Beret team, to ensure that the award citations were being prepared. At Fort Bragg, General Thomas watched a video of the ambush made from images on the helmet camera of one of the dead soldiers. He read through the surviving soldiers’ statements about the battle. And he asked whether Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, who was killed trying to rescue a wounded comrade who eventually died, was eligible for the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award.


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