In Niger, US Special Forces fought alone, and fought like tigers

The US special forces detachment ambushed in the Niger last month fought alone for hours after the local Nigerien forces they were accompanying fled in the first minutes of the engagement, retired and serving special forces officers with knowledge of events have said.

The trapped soldiers also made repeated efforts to convince French warplanes sent from neighbouring Mali to engage the enemy, attempting to “talk in” the pilots who refused to attack due to poor weather, rough terrain and an inability to differentiate friend from foe, the officers said.

The unit that was attacked comprised 12 soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group which had recently arrived in Niger for a six-month tour, and about 30 Nigerien troops.
The ambush took place at 11:40pm on 4 October after the unit had spent two hours in the remote village of Tongo Tongo, talking to local elders.

About 50 men attacked the US and Nigerien unit with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

The retired special forces officer said he had been told by servicemen with detailed knowledge of the incident that “approximately half of the US/Nigerien force was allowed to pass through the ambush killzone before the ambush was sprung, trapping the rear half.”
On hearing firing, the lead group of soldiers turned around to engage the militants.

“Except for those already dead or wounded, all of the Nigerien soldiers bugged out and left the Americans to fight … all by themselves.

 Two groups, roughly six Americans per group, fighting for their lives alone against a superior ALQ force,” the retired officer said.

A US drone was on the site of the engagement within minutes, but was unarmed. An hour passed before the trapped unit on the ground called for airstrikes against the militants who surrounded them. The delay has surprised and concerned experts and veterans.

“Airstrikes were requested as the Americans fought on. Several French Mirage fighters responded, but refused to engage citing poor weather, rough terrain and an inability to differentiate friend from foe. American SF [Special Forces] requested ‘danger close’ support and attempted to talk the CAS [close air support] in, but the French Mirages alleged continued to refuse to engage,” the officer wrote in the mail, based on his own discussions with serving and retired special forces soldiers with knowledge of the incident.

The attackers set fire to the dry bush around the encircled special forces soldiers to cover the battleground with smoke. The account quoted a Nigerien soldier as saying that the surviving troops from the patrol were fighting off their attackers, standing back to back in a last stand, when reinforcements finally arrived.

After two hours, French special forces flown by helicopter from their base in Mali reached the site of the ambush, prompting the attackers to withdraw. The French soldiers searched the immediate vicinity and evacuated survivors, including several who were wounded.

The five Nigeriens killed in the ambush died in its first moments, sources within the special forces community said.

One of the light, unarmoured trucks used by the patrol became stuck in sand after the attack started. Almost all the Nigerien troops it was carrying were killed or wounded. One source said the vehicle was hit by a mortar round.

Well, one thing that you can count on the Americans to do, is fight.  Even young troops, not experienced in combat and who weren't expecting it.  I wonder how many bad guys bought the farm in this engagement.  I hope a lot.

The local troops, the Nigeriens, are shameful cowards, at least according to this account.

In defense of the French Air Force, I'm sure they didn't want to see their names in lights world wide as the allies who killed their American friends with a wayward bomb.  I wonder if they made a few low, fast passes to make jet noise and try to intimidate the enemy.  

Finally, note it was the French from Mali who eventually came to the rescue, as our men were preparing for a last stand.  

I wonder what our next move will be.  If I lived in Tongo Tongo, I think I'd move.