The DoD inquiry, completed in 2018, found that the 11-member US special forces team was not prepared for the mission, and identified other flaws in planning. The ambush also prompted congressional inquiries, and an investigation by the US Department of Defense (DoD). The ambush sparked political debate over the presence of US forces in Africa and brought attention to previously under-reported US military activities in the region. In the day preceding the ambush, the Nigerien and US soldiers conducted a mission attempting to locate and capture or kill Doundou Chefou, a commander in the ISGS. During the ambush, four Nigeriens, four US soldiers, and at least 21 ISGS militants were killed, and eight Nigeriens and two US soldiers including the team commander were wounded. WASHINGTON The United States has identified at least three Islamic State leaders accused of planning and directing an ambush last October in Niger that killed four American soldiers. The Tongo Tongo ambush or the Niger ambush occurred on 4 October 2017, when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien and US soldiers outside the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger, while they were returning to base after a stop in the village. The upcoming Niger report will hopefully shed more light on the events leading up to the ambush, as well as what can be learned to avoid future disasters.Link to version with extra 40 seconds of footage showing deceased US soldier.

Low visibility civilian vehicles may be of little benefit when the forces operating such vehicles are in distinctly American uniforms and place high visibility military items, like satellite antennas, on their vehicles’ exteriors. Oshkosh M-ATVs, for instance, could be more appropriate for the evolving threat environment in Africa. That policy appears to have been revised in light of the ambush, as the Pentagon received permission from the government of Niger to begin flying armed drones from Niamey late last year.Īnother policy that may face revision is the use of lightly armored, low visibility vehicles. aircraft had authority to launch kinetic strikes. 4 near the Nigerien border with Mali.Īt the time, Libya and Somalia were the only two regions where U.S. The Nigerien and American soldiers were participating in a mission to gather information on the whereabouts of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the ISGS. 3 to meet with local leaders before the morning ambush on Oct. During the ambush, five Nigeriens, four Americans, and 21 militants were killed while eight Nigeriens and two Americans were wounded. Prior reports state that the patrol had traveled roughly 120 miles north of Niamey, the capital, on Oct. Physical distance, poor communications, and a reliance on French aircraft possibly compounded the delayed response time. It remains unclear why aircraft were not able to support the U.S.-led team in a timely manner after the engagement began. troops normally have air assets to provide close air support. Militants surround him and fire at point-blank range.Īfter assessing the footage, a former Marine Raider told Military Times, “I think whatever security assessment they got was incomplete or inaccurate.”įacing a numerically superior force, U.S. Newly released drone footage of a militant ambush in Niger that killed four American and five Nigerien service personnel shows the soldiers desperately. The footage ends after it appears the soldier with the camera succumbed to his wounds. soldiers dead The video reportedly shows three soldiers on the run from militants. Instead, they sprint, possibly because they were being pursued by too many militants to justify the delay of periodically stopping to fire.Įventually, the individual with the helmet camera, suffering from unknown wounds, appears to fall and re-engage the militants. Islamic State releases helmet cam video of ambush in Niger which left four U.S. The two soldiers do not bound backwards, a tactic in which they would normally provide covering fire for one another as they run individually. Regardless, after one of the soldiers goes down and another is wounded, the two remaining look close to being overrun and make a break for a nearby tree line. troops appear to be maneuvering toward a red smoke grenade, perhaps as a rallying point amidst the confusion or to mark their position before a potential airstrike. 4 ambush about 120 miles (200 kilometers) north of Niger's capital, Niamey. 12, 2018 that Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi with the self-professed IS affiliate claimed responsibility for the Oct. The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported Friday, Jan. 4, 2017, by militants believed linked to the Islamic State group. All four were killed in Niger, when a joint patrol of American and Niger forces was ambushed on Oct.

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