Small Wars Journal

Pentagon Grapples With a Thorny Question After Niger Ambush: What Next in Africa?

Mon, 03/19/2018 - 8:13pm

Pentagon Grapples With a Thorny Question After Niger Ambush: What Next in Africa? By Dan Lamothe – Washington Post

The death of four U.S. soldiers in a chaotic ambush in Niger leaves the Pentagon grappling with a thorny issue in Africa: How should it counter the Islamic State and other militant groups without becoming ensnared in conflicts on the continent?

The attack, launched Oct. 4, also left five Nigerien soldiers dead and prompted a two-day search for one of the slain American soldiers. The Pentagon is expected to soon release the results of an investigation that details what went wrong and how soldiers carrying out a routine patrol possibly ended up hunting members of a new Islamic State offshoot, as Nigerien officials have said.

“I have been reading the report myself because I don’t want this dragged out,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday, adding that he expected to see recommendations from the Pentagon’s top officer, Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.

Video released by the Islamic State and originally captured on the helmet camera of a U.S. soldier shows U.S. and Nigerien soldiers fighting in an open desertscape as armed militants closed in. The unit, which included elite members of 3rd Special Forces Group, did not have air support for an hour after calling for help, leaving it vulnerable as a larger force of about 50 militants attacked with rifles and machine guns…

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