"As you know, that ambush, which claimed the lives of four Americans, is under new scrutiny because of an in-depth documentary from ABC News, '3212 UNREDACTED.' While we would not presume to know all the facts surrounding the operation, the documentary raises disturbing new questions regarding the integrity of the investigation performed after the ambush," the letter to Austin said. "He was not captured alive," the narration said. He was lying on his back, his arms at his side. 6, Tongo Tongo villagers told Nigerien troops where they thought the body of the fourth American could be found. Wright, Black and Jeremiah Johnson.Īt 6:25 a.m. Fortunately, no one was injured," the narration said.Īt 6:25 p.m., the Nigerien quick reaction force found the bodies of Staff Sgts. Shortly after 4 p.m., "a team member moved into a clearing, waving an American flag to a helicopter to establish his identity as friendly forces," the narration said.Ī Nigerien quick reaction force was the first to arrive on the ground, but they initially mistook the patrol members "for enemy forces, firing on them for 48 seconds until they were positively identified. French helicopters also arrived at the scene. local time, more than an hour into the firefight, "they wrote short messages to loved ones, believing they would soon be overrun," the narration said.įrench Mirage jets from neighboring Mali arrived, and made several passes at "treetop level," helping to scatter the enemy. The attack built in intensity, and they withdrew to a defensive position. There, they met with at least 27 villagers, the narration said.Īlmost immediately upon leaving Tongo Tongo, proceeding south toward their base, the patrol was hit by fire coming from the east. The patrol stopped in Tongo Tongo to let the Nigeriens take on water. The patrol did not find the sub-commander in Tiloa they found only an empty enemy camp west of Tongo Tongo, although the fire pits were still warm, the narration said. However, the captain "did not accurately characterize" his actual plan, which was to kill or capture a sub-commander of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS), the narration said. The captain leading Team Ouallam had filed a plan stating that the mission was to be a civil and military reconnaissance patrol in the area of Tiloa, north of the village of Tongo Tongo near the Mali border. 3 and changed at least twice before it ended. troops had three vehicles - two of them mounted with M240 machine guns. They were joined by a three-member Nigerien reconnaissance team and 31 other Nigerien troops. Special Forces troops, two special operations support troops and one intelligence contractor. It left unclear what happened afterward.Īt the outset, the narration of the long version cleared up earlier confusion on the number of troops and vehicles involved, and provided more detailed timelines on the recoveries of the bodies and rescue efforts. La David Johnson, whose body was not recovered until two days after the ambush. The shorter version ended with the death under a thorn tree of Sgt. The longer, unclassified version of the video and animation had already been shown to the families of the fallen and members of Congress. Roger Cloutier, who led the Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation on the joint patrol known as Team Ouallam, for their base in Niger.Ĭloutier's investigation was more than 3,000 pages long, but the Pentagon released only an eight-page unclassified summary May 10. Waldhauser was accompanied by his chief of staff, Army Maj. For as yet unspecified reasons, the Pentagon showed only a 10-minute version of the video and animation preceding a briefing May 10 by Marine Gen.
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