XPost: us.military.army, alt.politics.obama, alt.politics.radical-left
XPost: sac.politics
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/10/04/u-s-troops- take-hostile-fire-in-niger/?tid=pm_world_pop&utm_term=.801e1be9eecd
Three U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers were killed in Niger in
northwestern Africa on Wednesday after their joint patrol with Nigerien
forces was ambushed.
One “partner nation member” also died, and two other Americans were
wounded, according to U.S. Africa Command, which released new details
about the incident early Thursday. The wounded were evacuated to a
military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where they were in stable
condition, officials said.
The Pentagon has not disclosed the troops’ names or service affiliation, pending notification of their families. Two U.S. officials, speaking on
the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations,
confirmed for The Washington Post that those involved were assigned to an
elite Special Forces unit.
The incident occurred near the border with Mali, about 120 miles north of
the capital of Niamey, officials said. The deaths were first confirmed Wednesday by the New York Times.
U.S. Africa Command, which is based in Stuttgart, Germany, has provided no details about the mission, except to say it was for counterterrorism
purposes. It’s unclear, though, why this unit would come into contact with enemy forces while performing what’s typically considered a training and advisory role.
The deaths mark the first known hostile-fire casualties in Niger. A 3rd
Special Forces Group soldier was killed in a vehicle accident there in February.
Local media reported that the joint patrol was lured into an ambush near
the village of Tongo Tongo in the Tillaberi region. The attackers were described as coming from neighboring Mali, where al-Qaeda’s North Africa
branch has been battling both the government and a French-led coalition
seeking to root them out of their desert hideouts.
The United States has expanded its operations in Niger in recent years, including surveillance drone flights piloted from Niamey. The United
States is also finishing construction on an installation at Agadez, a
central city in the Sahara, that will move flights closer to southern
Libya and northern Mali. Closer proximity will allow longer flights,
giving drone operators more time to monitor remote desert stretches where militants are known to traverse.
The 3rd Special Forces Group and other forces are tasked with training
missions in Niger to combat extremist groups in the region, including
security assistance with intelligence and reconnaissance efforts. Al-Qaeda
in the Islamic Maghreb operates in Mali, further straining security on the border region.
Nasser Weddady, a regional security analyst, told The Post it was unusual
for U.S. troops to operate far into the western parts of the country.
However, the Drive website reported that the Pentagon contracted fuel deliveries for Ouallam, a city about halfway between the capital and the
Mali border.
Weapons flooded into the remote Sahara desert region after the fall of
Moammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya in 2011, arming Tuareg separatists and Islamist militants who took refuge there.
An al-Qaeda-linked group briefly took over most of northern Mali in 2012
before it was defeated by a French military intervention. Remnants of the
group still carry out attacks and kidnap Westerners.
Niger also faces spillover from the radical Boko Haram insurgency in
Nigeria, which has expanded into attacking neighboring countries.
--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party has run out of gas.
Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for ending the disaster of the Obama presidency.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.
ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its supporters can dispute that.
Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)