The joint patrol of U.S. and Nigerien forces killed 20 out of the approximately 50 Islamic State-affiliated fighters during the ambush along the Niger-Mali border in early October.
“CNN Exclusive: US-Nigerien team killed 20 ISIS fighters during firefight despite being ambushed by larger force armed w/ RPGs & mortars,” Ryan Browne from CNN tweeted Thursday.
A full report has yet to be published.
A total of four U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack and two were wounded.
The soldiers were attacked as they were returning to their operating base following a visit to a village, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Monday. He added that air support had been requested approximately an hour after the attack and probably hadn’t been requested earlier because soldiers thought they didn’t need it.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., met with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last week to ask questions about the ambush amid criticism from lawmakers concerning the transparency from the Pentagon about the attack. The Department of Defense is conducting a probe into the four soldiers’ deaths.
