US soldiers punished over Niger ambush

The US Army has punished six members of its armed forces for their roles in a 2017 mission in Niger that resulted in the ambush deaths of four Americans and four allied Nigerian troops.

The ambush occurred on October 4 2017 as a unit of 11 American special forces soldiers and 30 Nigerian troops, returning from a village near the Malian border, were overrun by scores of extremist Islamic State fighters.

An investigative report released by the Pentagon in May said the US soldiers had not been properly prepared for the mission.

Investigators cited “individual, organisational and institutional failures”.

Those being disciplined, the New York Times said on Saturday, include Captain Mike Perozeni, the Green Beret team leader, and his second in comnior mand, a master sergeant whose name has been withheld.

The paper said a letter of reprimand to Perozeni cited insufficient training and a lack of mission rehearsals. The two se- officers who approved the mission and oversaw the operation were not reprimanded.

Pentagon spokesperson Commander Candice Tresch said a “thorough review of the findings” was being done.

The Times account said Perozeni’s Green Beret unit, Team 3212, had headed toward the Niger-Mali border in pursuit of an Islamic State group leader.

An operation was planned against the leader’s camp by a helicopter-borne team of US commandos and Nigerian troops, along with Team 3212.

But bad weather led to the helicopter mission being canceled. Team 3212 proceeded and was ambushed.

The US soldiers had not been properly prepared for the mission