Unidentified ambushers kill three US commandos and five allies in Niger
Donald Trump is briefed on the attack, said to have occurred on a routine patrol by Green Berets and Nigerien comrades
Military operations were underway on Thursday near Niger’s border with Mali the day after an attack by unidentified assailants which killed three members of the US Army Special Forces and five Nigerien soldiers, security sources said.
Two American soldiers were also wounded. The Green Berets were attacked while on a routine patrol in an area known to have a presence of insurgents, including from al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State, a US official said.
It was unclear, however, who exactly fired on the troops, the official said. The troops were not patrolling the area with any specific objective, such as a high-value target or rescuing a hostage, the official said.
A spokesman for US Africa Command confirmed the attack after Radio France International (RFI) reported a lethal ambush near the Niger-Mali border.
“We can confirm reports that a joint US and Nigerien patrol came under hostile fire in southwest Niger,” said the spokesman.
Namatta Abubacar, an official for the region of Tillaberi in Niger, confirmed the deaths of five Nigerien soldiers.