Niger ambush, deaths highlight U.S. Africa military mission creep

Niger ambush, deaths highlight U.S. Africa military mission creep

NAIROBI/ABIDJAN (Reuters) - U.S. special forces soldiers were training their Nigerien counterparts in the West African nation’s volatile southwest, a growing hot-bed of jihadist violence, when the report came in of a raid nearby.

The assailants were believed to be led by Dondou Chefou, a lieutenant in a new group operating along the Mali-Niger border and called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. A decision was soon taken to pursue them.

The mixed force was ambushed by fighters on dozens of vehicles and motorcycles. Under heavy fire, U.S. troops called in French fighter jets for air support. But the firefight was at such close quarters the planes could not engage and were instead left circling overhead as a deterrant.

The version of events, as told by two Nigerien and two Western sources briefed on the incident, shines a light on Washington’s increasingly aggressive Special Forces-led counter-terrorism strategy in Africa and its risk of casualties.

Four U.S. soldiers died in the firefight, killed in a country where most Americans were unaware their army is deployed but Washington has steadily grown its presence.

At least four Nigeriens were also killed and, according to one Niger security source, militants seized four vehicles in the ambush. French helicopters, scrambled after the U.S. call for help, evacuated several soldiers wounded in the clash.