Caught in a deadly ambush, U.S. troops in Niger waited an hour for French air power to arrive
By Dan Lamothe October 23 at 7:47 PM
The U.S. Special Forces team caught in a deadly ambush three weeks ago in Niger did not request help from nearby French forces for about an hour after the firefight began near a village the Americans had visited during a reconnaissance mission several hours prior, the Pentagon’s top general said Monday.
It then took the French another hour to get fighter jets over the American troops, according to a new timeline provided by Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The disclosure doubles the amount of time the U.S. troops were believed to have fought without significant additional help.
“This is a very complex situation that they found themselves in, and a pretty tough firefight,” Dunford said.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in the battle Oct. 4. Five Nigerien troops also died. The mission has ignited a political firestorm, raising questions about the U.S. military’s broader mission in Africa and why one of the fallen soldiers, Sgt. La David Johnson, was not recovered for two days.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/caught-in-a-deadly-ambush-us-troops-in-niger-waited-an-hour-for-french-air-power-to-arrive/2017/10/23/0db1cea6-b834-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html
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