The bodies of the others who were killed had been recovered, but Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida, could not be found.Ībout two days later, Nigerois military forces located Johnson's body, in the heavy brush under a thorny tree, where he had hidden and fought in his final stand against the enemy. Africa Command had launched a search and recovery mission for the one U.S. No one was injured in that brief gunfight.Īt the same time, U.S. For 48 seconds they fired on the team with automatic weapons, until they were able to confirm their identity. The drone video zooms in on them, and flashes of gunfire light up the screen.Ī friendly Nigerois response force had arrived to help, and mistook the team for enemy insurgents. The video shifts to an overhead view near the team waiting at the clearing, and two trucks can be seen moving into the frame. A number of militants can be seen moving quickly away.Īfter nearly three hours of waiting, French helicopters arrived, and an American soldier can be seen on the video moving out into the clearing, waving a U.S. drones arrived overhead and established contact with the team, and after another seven minutes, two French Mirage aircraft screamed across the sky at a low altitude, in a show of force to frighten the enemy. "They wrote short messages to loved ones on personal devices, believing they would soon be overrun," the video narrator says. 4, they hunkered down at the edge of a clearing. They crossed through a swamp, and at about 12:50 p.m. The video depicts seven American forces and four Nigerois fleeing on foot, under heavy mortar and small arms fire.
and four Nigerois troops were gunned down. During the firefight, a number of the Nigerois escaped by truck, but four U.S. The team was heading home when it was attacked by more than 100 militants just outside the village of Tongo Tongo. and Nigerois troops out on the initial mission in the west African nation, going after but failing to find a high-value militant, then collecting intelligence at a site where the insurgent had been.
The video depicts for the first time the harrowing hours as troops held off their enemy and waited for rescue. The video, released by the Pentagon with explanatory narration, includes more than 10 minutes of drone footage, file tape and animation that wasn't made public last week when the military released a portion of the final report on the October attack. It describes how the fleeing troops set up a quick defensive location on the edge of a swamp and - thinking they were soon to die - wrote messages home to their loved ones. forces desperately trying to escape and fighting for their lives after friendly Nigerois forces mistook them for the enemy. October’s events have led to questions from Congress and others about why the United States has soldiers deployed in Niger, and whether they’re safe.WASHINGTON - Dramatic new drone video of the Niger ambush that killed four American soldiers shows U.S. The United States has about 800 troops in Niger to help train local forces and fight terrorism. The Pentagon says the video shows the Islamic State’s “depravity.” They are reviewing the incident and are expected to release a thorough report on what happened, and lessons learned. The last shot shows militants surrounding him and firing at him at point-blank range. Finally, the soldier wearing the camera on his helmet falls to the ground. The two other soldiers try to pull him to safety, then flee into the scrub. Two others are walking behind, firing their weapons at attackers. One is slowly driving an unarmed SUV, ducking because the vehicle is under fire. In the clip, the soldiers are clearly outgunned and overwhelmed. soldiers, allegedly filmed by a camera on one of the soldier’s helmets. Photo by Department of Defense/AFP/Getty Images Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida, who was killed on Octoin southwest Niger. The video then cuts to footage of several armed militants running in a desert area. The nine-minute clip opens with a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by members of Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, a terrorist group made up of West African jihadist groups. Over the weekend, the group released a video via Telegram and to a Mauritanian news outlet that captures three soldiers fighting for their lives.
Months later, a group affiliated with the Islamic State claimed credit for the attack, confirming a suspicion of U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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