Niger ambush: Questions still remain over attack that killed four US soldiers

The investigation is expected to take 'several weeks'

General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefs the media on the recent military operations in Niger, at the Pentagon on 23 October. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

After menbers of Congress questioned the transparancy of the Trump administration over the ambush in Niger that killed four US troops, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford has sought to answer questions but shed little light on the circumstances of the attack.

“We owe families” and the American public more answers on what happened on 4 October, said Marine Corps General Dunford speaking from the Pentagon.

Staff Sergeants Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson, Dustin Wright, and Sergeant La David T Johnson died and two others were injured when a group of a dozen US Army soldiers and 30 troops from Niger were ambushed that day.

The response to the incident became a national issue amid a controversy over a call between Mr Trump and the widow of Sgt. Johnson - with Myeshia Johnson saying that the call "made her cry" as Mr Trump struggled to remeber the naem of her husband.

“Yes, the president said that 'he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway.' And it made me cry 'cause I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said he couldn't remember my husband's name,” Mrs Johnson told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday. “The only way he remembered my husband's name is because he told me he had my husband's report in front of him and that's when he actually said La David.”

President Trump answered back on Twitter soon after the interview aired, saying: “I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!”

Monday's pointed exchange was the latest in an ongoing dispute over how Mr Trump responded to the deaths of the four service members. The clash over the call began last week when Democratic Representative Frederica Johnson accused Trump of being callous in the conversation and Trump retorted that Wilson's account was fabricated.

But Mrs Johnson backed Ms Wilson's account, saying that the congresswoman was a longtime friend who was with the family in the car when Mr Trump called last Tuesday and that Ms Wilson listened on a speakerphone. Mrs Johnson said she had asked for the call to be put on speakerphone so relatives with her could hear.

The Pentagon’s initial assessment of the incident was to blame militants affiliated with Isis but an investigation is underway by the Defence Department and FBI.

Republican Senator John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Monday that Congress wanted answers about the ambush in Niger, which may have been one of the reasons behind General Dunford's address.

“We should not be fighting about a brave American who lost his life serving his country. That should not be a topic in America today,” he told ABC's The View programme, adding that his committee needed more information about the incident.

“Unless you learn the lessons, then you're going to repeat them,” he said.

In separate interviews on Sunday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer both said they backed McCain's efforts to get more details, and that they had not been aware that the United States had so many military personnel in Niger.

Sgt. Johnson’s body was not found until 48 hours later after the ambush and Mr Dunford said US Africa Command “brought the full weight of the US government to bear in trying to find [Mr Johnson’s] body.”

However, the General also confirmed that Nigerien troops, five of whom died in the attack, were the ones to find him and report to the US.

There were, according to Mr Dunford, US, French, and Nigerien troops in the area from the time of rescue to the moment Mr Johnson’s body was returned.

The US troops were accompanying Nigerian troops from a village on a “reconnaissance mission” - referred to as a “train, advise, and assist” mission - and returning to their outpost during the ambush and ensuing firefight, according to Mr Dunford.

He explained that “we don’t normally accompany partner forces if enemy contact is expected,” instead opting to allow local partners to handle the situation.

Defence Secretary James Mattis also confirmed last week that risk of enemy contact was low according to pre-mission assessments.

The General also confirmed a very rough timeline of the events.

It took “approximately an hour” for the troops to signal they needed help, 30 minutes for French partner forces to prepare, and an additional 30 minutes to arrive at the scene with helicopters.

Mr Dunford said it was not clear exactly why the troops on the ground took almost an hour to signal for help, but that it was likely because of an on-the-ground risk assessment: they thought they could handle the situation “with the resources at hand”.

They were being attacked by approximately 50 Isis militants with “small arms and rocket-powered grenades.

It is unknown if any of these militants was killed in what Mr Dunford called a “pretty tough firefight”.

He also said a “US remotely piloted vehicle in the area” - or a drone - was “retasked” within minutes of the initial signal for help and had “full-motion video” capability of the scene.

Mr Dunford said he had not viewed the video footage from the drone as yet.

The French forces then evacuated the two injured soldiers, but Mr Dunford did not have the exact time of how long that part of the mission took.

Aside from the roughly two-hour window, Mr Dunford said several questions remain about what happened which will be uncovered during the investigation.

For instance, whether the initial mission change at some point while the troops were on patrol, if there was adequate intelligence, the nature of the pre-mission assessment, how the US forces became separated, and how Mr Johnson’s body ended up nearly one mile away from the initial site according to many reports.

Mr Dunford said these are all “fair questions” but asked for “some patience” in gathering exact details.

Families will be briefed once the details become known, after which the general public will be informed.

The US has approximately 800 troops in Niger, the most in any one African country.

Members of Congress have been questioning why US troops were in the country, however.

Mr Dunford explained that the US has been in the country for nearly two decades and that Niger is an “area of concentration” for terror groups like Isis and al-Qaeda.

“We have sent them there to operate areas in which there are extremist threats. Are they taking risks? They are,” said Mr Dunford, adding that it is nothing “beyond capabilities” of the soldiers.

He said the presence of US troops is not only about where terrorists are currently located, but also “where they will be” and “enabling local forces” to handle those threats so risk to US forces and any potential attacks on the homeland are minimised.

Mr Dunford said Niger is “a relatively small footprint” for this type of mission compared to Afghanistan, where 11,000 US troops still remain.

The investigation is expected to last the next "several weeks," according to the General.