American forces ambushed in Niger earlier this month did not call for support until an hour after the firefight they were in had begun, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.
Gen. Joseph Dunford also said it was another hour before French air support was able to assist the embattled unit.
The 12 U.S. soldiers and roughly 30 Nigerien forces who were under attack on Oct 4 from about 50 terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State group requested support “approximately one hour after taking fire,” he said.
Dunford would not speculate further regarding the time frame.
“It’s important to note when they didn’t ask for support for that first hour, my judgment would be that that unit thought they could handle the situation without additional support,” he said. “And so well we’ll find out in the investigation exactly why it took an hour for them to call.”
Dunford said it is important not to read into that timing until investigators learn more.
“I make no judgment about how long it took them to ask for support. I don’t know that they thought they needed support prior to that time,” Dunford said. “I don’t know how this attack unfolded. I don’t know what their initial assessment was of what they were confronted with.”
He said that within minutes of the call for support, a U.S. drone was diverted from another mission to provide “full-motion video … right over the scene of the troops in contact.”
The French were notified at the same time. Mirage fighter jets were scrambled within 30 minutes and then took another 30 minutes to arrive at the sight of the fight near the northern border of Niger.
French attack helicopters also responded, Dunford said.
Two wounded U.S. soldiers were flown out by the French during the fight. In the evening, after the fight was over, three of the dead Americans were evacuated.
Dunford also said that he could not provide detailed information about why Sgt. La David Johnson’s body was found separated from the rest of the group. The other three Americans killed in the attack were found with the main group. Johnson’s body, which was found two days later, was discovered between one and two miles away.
He acknowledged that there’s a “perception that the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming.”
“I thought it would be helpful for me to personally clarify to you what we know today, and to outline what we hope to find out in the ongoing investigation,” Dunford told reporters Monday.
“Many of you have asked a number of questions and many of them are fair questions and we owe you more information,” he added. “More importantly, we owe the families of the fallen more information. That’s what the investigation is designed to identify.” (For more from the author of “Top US General: Distress Call From Soldiers in Niger Ambush Not Received Until 1 Hour After Attack” please click HERE)
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