Chilling helmet-cam video, stolen from dead US soldier, shows ambush by Islamic State in Niger
Four US troops died in the October attack, including the soldier wearing the camera which records him being shot before Islamic State fighters walk past his fallen body
A propaganda video released by the Islamic State group that apparently shows the deadly ambush of US troops in Niger raised fresh questions Monday as to the nature of the mission and why the soldiers had been left so vulnerable.
The video, distributed by a pro-IS news agency, includes graphic footage recorded by a US solder wearing a helmet camera, later stolen by IS fighters.
It shows the chaos of the attack, including the solider wearing the camera being shot dead, with apparent IS fighters walking past his body.
The Defence Department “is aware of alleged photos and IS propaganda video from the October 4, 2017 terrorist attack in Niger. The release of these materials demonstrates the depravity of the enemy we are fighting,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The nine-minute video, set to Islamic chanting, includes an image of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and footage of pick-up trucks rolling through a desert landscape.
One of the vehicles is flying an IS flag and other trucks are packed with what appear to be fighters.
The October 4 attack occurred as a unit of American special forces soldiers together with 30 Nigerien troops returned from the village of Tongo Tongo, near the border with Mali.