Hours before Niger ambush, US soldiers were targeting militants in Mali
Source: The Boston Globe
By Sudarsan Raghavan
NIAMEY, Niger — The four US soldiers killed last month in an ambush were helping track and fight Islamist militants along the Mali-Niger border in the hours before their death, according to the nation’s defense minister and a wounded Nigerien soldier who survived the attack.
The accounts raise questions about the Pentagon’s assertions that the American and Nigerien troops were on a low-risk reconnaissance mission and that chances of contact with militants were unlikely. They were, instead, operating in a dangerous and complex battle zone, where attacks happen frequently. US troops are in Niger to train and advise, military officials have said, not to engage in combat missions. The Pentagon has said it is investigating whether the soldiers’ stated mission had changed.
Questions still unanswered: Was the team operating on faulty intelligence? Or was the mission changed at the last minute?
The details suggest revenge may have been a motive for the militants — who were part of a relatively new Islamic State affiliate, the Pentagon suspects — in their attack on 11 US soldiers and 30 Nigerien troops.
Read more: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2017/11/05/hours-before-death-niger-soldiers-were-targeting-militants-mali/IELSIt0UxyQaYui5m2CX1L/story.html
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