Military report finds multiple failures contributed to deadly Niger ambush
WASHINGTON — Multiple failures led up to the deadly Niger attack last October, but top military leaders said Thursday that none directly caused the overwhelming enemy ambush that killed four American service members and sent others fighting and running for their lives.
“The direct cause of the enemy attack in Tongo Tongo is that the enemy achieved tactical surprise there and our forces were outnumbered approximately three-to-one,” Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr. told reporters during a Pentagon news conference.
He described a brutal, chaotic firefight, as 46 U.S. and Nigerien forces battled more than 100 enemy fighters. Killed in the attack were: Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Fla.; Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga. Four Nigerien troops were also killed, and two American soldiers and eight Nigerien troops were wounded.
The Americans who were killed “gave their last full measure of devotion to our country and died with honor while actively engaging the enemy,” the report said.
After months of silence during the investigation, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, laid out the findings and took responsibility for what happened. He said the report, which has not been made public in full, singles out three individuals whose actions could be faulted. He did not name them.
A report summary released Thursday lays out a confusing chain of events that unfolded Oct. 3-4, ending in the ambush, and points to “individual, organizational, and institutional failures and deficiencies that contributed to the tragic events.” It concludes “no single failure or deficiency was the sole reason” for what happened.