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Africa Subsaharan
CNN: US military reveals new firefight in Niger
2018-03-16
[CNN] The US military revealed for the first time Wednesday that US troops were involved in a firefight in Niger in December, just months after a Green Beret-led team was ambushed by ISIS militants in October, an attack that left four US soldiers dead.

In a statement provided to CNN by Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. Sheryll Klinkel, the US military said that "during a mission in the Lake Chad Basin region the morning of Dec. 6, a combined force of Nigerien and US military members came under fire from a formation of violent extremists."

The military stressed that US troops were not seeking combat and that the joint US-Nigerien mission was aimed at setting "the conditions for future partner-led operations against violent extremist organizations in the region," adding that "no aspect of this mission focused on pursuing enemy militants."

"With that said, our forces do operate in unstable areas and are occasionally exposed to danger from enemy forces. When such a situation occurs, our personnel are authorized to respond to threats and violence appropriately," the statement added.
Posted by:Besoeker

#7  What the hell are they doing there? It's not our fight and not our job. Get them out!

Same reason that our guys are in Afghanistan. To prevent jihadists from using the place as a training ground for foreign operations like the one on 9/11. Green Berets are much harder targets than the civilians who were slaughtered at the WTC, and they are trained and compensated to take the risk.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2018-03-16 20:25  

#6  Looking through the archives, it was originally thought the October 4th ambush was by Al Qaeda in North Africa’s Mali branch, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Moslemin (JNIM), but later ISIS in the Greater Sahara — which apparently had been in existence for about two years, led by a certain Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi — posted a video claiming credit. So heaven only knows who attacked our guys in December.

Mali militia says it has American vehicle and weapons

Good article, Skidmark. It’s nice there are people like those Tuaregs about.
Posted by: trailing wife   2018-03-16 18:22  

#5  Salute to TCE and the late Lt.Col. Reid-Daly.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-16 16:08  

#4  My orders in Angola and Rhodesia were to avoid contact, if you can't avoid contact don't take any prisoners, and above all else do not leave witnesses.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2018-03-16 15:40  

#3  US Niger ambush: Mali militia says it has American vehicle and weapons
Posted by: Skidmark   2018-03-16 09:41  

#2  With that said, our forces do operate in unstable areas and are occasionally exposed to danger from enemy forces.

So, sort of like Chicago or Baltimore.

When such a situation occurs, our personnel are authorized to respond to threats and violence appropriately,

Stand outside while the shooting goes on and wait for backup?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2018-03-16 09:24  

#1  What the hell are they doing there? It's not our fight and not our job. Get them out!
Posted by: Harcourt Angoluting9366   2018-03-16 05:50  

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