Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the media shouldn’t question the military response to the Oct. 4 ambush in Niger that took the lives of four U.S. soldiers, nor expect answers to what happened before the Pentagon is ready to provide them.

“One point I would make having seen some of the news reports, the U.S. military does not leave its troops behind and I would just ask you not question the actions of the troops who were caught in the firefight and question whether or not they did everything they could in order to bring everyone out at once,” Mattis told journalists at the Pentagon on Thursday. “And I would also ask you don’t confuse your need for accurate information with our ability to provide it immediately in a situation like this.”