US Army Punishes Six Over Fatal Niger Ambush
The US Army has punished six people for their roles in a 2017 mission in Niger that resulted in the ambush deaths of four Americans and five allied Nigerien troops, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The ambush occurred on October 4, 2017, as a unit of 12 American special forces soldiers and 30 Nigerien troops, returning from a village near the Malian border, were overrun by scores of jihadists.
An investigative report released by the Pentagon in May said that while US soldiers had fought bravely and four “died with honor,” they had not been properly prepared for the mission. Investigators cited “individual, organizational and institutional failures.”
Those being disciplined, the Times said Saturday, include Captain Mike Perozeni, the leader of the Green Beret team, as well as his second in command, a master sergeant whose name has been withheld.
The paper said a letter of reprimand to Perozeni cited the insufficient training and a lack of mission rehearsals.
Two senior officers who approved the mission and oversaw the ill-fated operation were not reprimanded, according to the newspaper.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an AFP request for confirmation of the report’s details.
It has been tight-lipped about the nature of the mission in Niger — the existence of which surprised many Americans.
