Missing U.S. commando found dead in Niger desert
WASHINGTON — After an intense two-day search, local military forces recovered the body Friday of a U.S. Army commando who was inadvertently left behind after a daylight ambush by militants killed three other Green Berets in a rugged border region in Niger.
Pentagon officials had not previously announced that a Green Beret was missing in action after the surprise attack on a joint patrol of U.S. commandos and Nigerian troops Wednesday. Six of the 12 Americans on the patrol were killed or wounded.
U.S. officials hoped the missing Special Forces operative might still be hiding in the brush, rather than having been taken captive, and launched a massive search and rescue mission with aerial drones and other aircraft, as well as Nigerian ground forces.
The death of four Green Berets in West Africa marks the worst single loss of U.S. forces under fire since President Donald Trump took office. The president was briefed on the search and the discovery of the body, officials said.
The casualties came as a heavy blow to the insular Special Operations community that shoulders the burden of America’s counterterrorism operations overseas. The four fatalities, as well as two wounded Green Berets, were in the 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, N.C.
The Pentagon identified the first three fatalities as Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio, and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga.
Officials did not release the name of the Green Beret whose body was found. It wasn’t clear if he was killed in the firefight or died later.
According to the Pentagon, the Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, known as an A-Team, went on a routine patrol Wednesday with 20 troops with the Forces Armées Nigeriennes when they came under heavy fire.
Officials said a barrage of machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades forced the U.S. and Nigerien troops into defensive positions near the border with Mali. The fire peppered the troops’ trucks and shattered windows before they could regroup and fire back.
The soldiers called in support from French attack helicopters and fighter jets. It’s not clear whether the aircraft fired.
Amid the chaos, the officials said, one of the 12 Green Berets was left behind in a border region notorious for drug smuggling, human trafficking and myriad extremist militias, including allies of alQaida and Islamic State.