U.S. troops met with ‘overwhelming force’ in Niger ambush, official says - NEWS TODAY
Channel: NEWS TODAY
Date: 2017-10-19

U.S. troops met with ‘overwhelming force’ in Niger ambush, official says - NEWS TODAY
Confusion over what happened during an ambush of U.S. Special Forces in Niger earlier this month apparently sparked a full Pentagon probe of the incident announced Thursday, which some officials say could have had even worse casualties than four American soldiers killed from the small, "out-matched" team.

Officials have described a harrowing burst of violence in or near a village close to Niger's border with Mali on Oct. 4, which led to the first U.S. combat deaths in the small African nation battling Islamist extremists.

The gunfight may have split the team of a dozen or fewer American commandos in half, according to one counterterrorism official. It was so chaotic that one soldier remained missing for up to 36 hours before his remains were recovered.

"They met an overwhelming force,” the counterterrorism official who was familiar with the mission and its aftermath, told ABC News. “They were out-gunned and out-matched. The enemy had relative superiority in numbers and fully enveloped and out-flanked the team. I think they got cut in half with suppressive fire.”

Four U.S. special operations soldiers were killed in action, along with 1 Nigerien soldier killed and two Americans wounded.

Another U.S. official said that the Defense Intelligence Agency has assessed it "highly likely" that the group of 50 or more attackers behind the ambush in Niger were from ISIS in the Greater Sahara, referred to as ISGS. But the counterterrorism official said the attackers may have included current or former members of al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist extremist group Ansar Dine from neighboring Mali.

Reports that day quickly came back to Fort Bragg, N.C., where the U.S. team of "Bush Hogs" from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group is based, that one soldier was missing and unaccounted for. "Accountability," meaning ascertaining the whereabouts of all soldiers in a team when when they are in contact with an adversary, is a critical matter. The Army's Warrior Ethos includes the pledge to "never leave a fallen comrade."

But multiple sources said Sgt. La David Johnson, a support trooper in 3rd Special Forces Group, was missing for as long as 36 hours before his remains were found. Once he was recovered, it did not appear that he had been captured by the insurgents but it is believed he died in the initial fighting, several officials said.

It is very rare for a Green Beret team to make a "tactical withdrawal" under fire without having full accountability of its teammates -- but the gunfight in Niger was extraordinary.

"They had critical casualties. They had zero air support on station," the counterterrorism official said. "If they had stayed, everyone would have died."

Since Niger is a low-intensity conflict, there are not many U.S. bases nearby with medevac helicopters and combat air support. French forces in the region often partner with the American forces and provide air support.

Leaving a man behind under fire may have been their only choice given three Americans were known to have been killed, as well as one Nigerien soldier, and several other soldiers wounded, said an experienced Special Forces commander.

"In reality, when you're in a firefight, you may not have the luxury of having immediate accountability. When you get ambushed, your forces are trying to get out of the kill zone alive. Three guys may go left and one guy goes right, and the guy who goes right gets killed," said retired Green Beret, Lt. Col. James Gavrilis. "If you're on the losing end of an ambush, it's not realistic to expect those guys to have full accountability of every man on the team right away."

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