A fourth U.S. soldier was killed along with three Army Green Berets during a mission this week in Niger, West Africa, according to U.S. Africa Command.
The soldiers were on a reconnaissance patrol as part of what the command described as an advise-and-assist mission with Nigerien forces on Wednesday when they were ambushed by an enemy the command declined to identify. A two-day search-and-rescue effort located the body of the fourth soldier.
“The mission was not meant as an engagement with the enemy, it was meant to establish relations with the local leaders,” said Col. Mark Cheadle, an Africa Command spokesman. “The threat at the time was deemed to be unlikely, so there was no overhead armed air cover during the engagement.”
The ambush occurred about 124 miles north of the capital Niamey in southwest Niger, which borders Mali and Nigeria. The U.S. has several hundred troops and a drone base in the country where the Islamic State and al Qaeda splinter groups have sprouted. The military has increased its presence in that region in recent years to counter extremist groups.
There were roughly a dozen U.S. troops with the local forces, for a total mission size of about 40 troops. Cheadle said there was no indication that the Nigeriens tipped off the enemy attackers or that any foreign enemy fighters were involved.
“Frankly at this point, I don’t want to name a particular entity because I don’t want to give them any sort of feeling of success,” Cheadle said.
The identity of the most recent casualty was not immediately released. The Greed Berets killed were Staff Sgts. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga., according to the announcement. All three were assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders first confirmed on Friday that a fourth U.S. soldier had been killed.
Sanders was asked when President Trump learned a fourth body had been found.
“I know that it was pretty soon after that had been discovered, but as far as the exact time, I couldn’t give you that,” she said. “But chief [of staff John] Kelly kept him updated constantly on that situation as it evolved.”
Minutes later, Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning also confirmed the news. “The body of another U.S. service member has been recovered from the area of the attack, bringing the number of U.S. service members killed in this attack to four,” he said in a statement.
Various news outlets had known the soldier was missing but held off reporting the information at the behest of the Pentagon, which feared coverage could hurt the effort and upset the soldier’s spouse.
