Pentagon confirms three US troops killed in Niger ambush

Army operations underway after the deadly attack

WASHINGTON/NIAMEY: Three US soldiers and two from another nation were killed when a joint US-Niger patrol was ambushed near the border with Mali in southwest Niger, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.

The Pentagon said two other US soldiers were wounded in the attack which took place while the they were assisting Nigerien counter-terror operations in the troubled area.

Military operations were underway on Thursday near Niger’s border with Mali after the deadly incident, confirming the first time the presence of American troops in the troubled area.

The other two soldiers killed are from Niger, according to Nigerien and US officials.

The attack took place during a routine patrol in a part of southwestern Niger where there are known to be insurgents, a US official told Reuters.

Separately, the US Africa command confirmed in a statement that a joint US and Nigerien patrol came under fire in Niger. But it said nothing about casualties, adding that officials are working to confirm details.

A security official in Niger told AFP, “we lost men in an attack on Wednesday in Tillaberi,” southwestern Niger, adding it was “probably a terrorist attack.” The source gave no further details.

Nigerien, US and French troops were conducting military operations in the zone on Thursday, a Nigerien security source said without providing additional details.

An official at Mali’s Defense Ministry said military operations were taking place within Niger and that Malian forces had reinforced their checkpoints along the border.

According to a Nigerien diplomatic source, those who carried out Wednesday’s attack came from Mali.

Wednesday’s attack adds to concerns that violence in Mali is spilling over into Niger, part of the poor and politically fragile Sahel where militant groups are mounting an insurgency.

The zone has been under a state of emergency since March. In mid-June, the Nigerien Army mounted an operation in the Tillaberi region to take on the jihadists.

Wednesday’s attack also points to the first known USs combat casualties in Niger, where Washington provides training and security assistance.

According to Radio France Internationale (RFI), the ambush took place after militants from Mali attacked the village of Tongo Tongo in the North Tillaberi region on Wednesday.

A counter-operation was launched, but the American and Niger soldiers fell into a trap, according to the radio report.

The New York Times said three US Green Berets were killed in the ambush and two others injured.

RFI said the toll was heavy, with the deaths of several Nigerien and US soldiers and others listed as missing.

A reprisal operation was launched afterwards, RFI added.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters in Washington that US President Donald Trump had been told “about Niger” without giving further information.

The Sahel — the belt of countries that share the vast southern Saharan desert — has become prey to violent jihadism, which has flared since an insurgency in Mali five years ago.

One of the sources for the unrest is northern Mali, which in 2012 fell under the control of militant groups linked to Al-Qaeda who exploited an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising.

The rebels were largely ousted from towns by a French-led military operation, and the UN has 12,500 troops and police serving there in its MINUSMA force.

But attacks have continued on civilians, the Malian Army as well as French and UN forces, and much of the region is in the hands of armed groups, including former rebels and bandits.

Violence has also spilled over into Burkina Faso and Niger, prompting a warning from the UN.