Pentagon sent elite commando force after Niger ambush

U.S. worried over missing soldier’s fate

The Pentagon deployed elite commandos from the United States in response to the deadly ambush of a Special Forces team in Niger, fearing that one soldier who was missing at the time was alive and might fall into enemy hands, military officials said.

The commandos, with the Joint Special Operations Command, were deployed late Oct. 4 after three U.S. soldiers and five Nigerien troops partnered with them were declared killed in action, said three officials, who were familiar with the operation and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of its sensitivity.

Earlier in the day, French Mirage jets were dispatched from their base in Niamey, the Nigerien capital, along with French attack helicopters from Gao, in neighboring Mali. The U.S. request for assistance came after the troops notified their home base, an hour after the ambush began, that they were in trouble.

The jets took off within 30 minutes and took another half-hour to reach the scene of the attack in the southwest corner of Niger near the border with Mali. They did not fire on what officials said was a confusing battlefield, to avoid hitting friendly forces. The helicopters, traveling more slowly and from farther away, took an additional hour to arrive.

It remains unclear whether the firefight was ongoing when the helicopters arrived, and when it became apparent that Army Sgt. La David Johnson was missing. His body eventually was recovered the evening of Oct. 6, after it was found by local Nigeriens and turned over to Nigerien authorities working with U.S. troops. It was not clear whether Joint Special Operations Command forces ever became directly involved in the search.

Two U.S. military officials said Johnson may have become separated from his unit in part because they were ambushed twice in succession, by militants believed affiliated with the Islamic State. That detail, first reported by NBC News, may explain the chaotic nature of the mission and the delayed call for assistance. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference Monday that the U.S. and Nigerien troops first faced enemy fire that morning, but may have initially thought the situation was under control.

Johnson's separation triggered declaration of what the military calls a Dustwun, which stands for "duty status whereabouts unknown," the officials said. Declaration of that status typically leads to an intense search for a missing service member. It is used when a commander suspects that a service member may be absent involuntarily, but does not think enough evidence exists to make a definitive determination, according to a U.S. military manual.

Dunford appeared to allude to the deployment of Joint Special Operations Command members during his news conference Monday, saying "national assets" were made available for the search. Dunford received a phone call from Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the chief of U.S. Africa Command, the night of the ambush -- early the next morning, in Niger, which triggered approval for additional help, the chairman said.

Two U.S. military officials said it is unlikely Joint Special Operations Command would have deployed forces for the search if it was clear at the time that Johnson was dead. The concern, the officials said, was that the missing soldier could be captured alive.

"All of us were preparing at the time for PR support," said one U.S. military official, alluding to sensitive personnel recovery operations.

The deployment of Joint Special Operations Command forces in response to Johnson's disappearance was first reported by ABC News. It has not previously been reported that the military issued a Dustwun alert, or that commanders had concerns that Johnson was alive and potentially attempting to evade those who had ambushed his unit.

Joint Special Operations Command includes the military's most elite forces: the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known as SEAL Team 6, and the Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force. It is not clear which force was assigned to help, or if both were.

Officials believe that those responsible for the attack were part of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, one of a number of small groups that began operating in Mali and Niger over the past two years. The Sahara group, led by Adnan Abu Walid Sahroui, a West African-born jihadist, pledged allegiance to and was officially recognized by the main Islamic State group in late 2016. It is believed to have fewer than 60 adherents -- although numbers and alliances fluctuate in the fluid situation in the sub-Saharan Sahel region -- who operate mainly in the Niger-Mali border region.

A Section on 10/26/2017

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