Tongo Tongo ambush

The Tongo Tongo ambush was a 4 October 2017 attack on Nigerien and American soldiers in Tongo Tongo, Niger, by armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). The ambush left five Nigeriens, four Americans, and 21 militants dead.

Background
In January 2013, a senior Niger official told Reuters that Bisa Williams, the then-United States Ambassador to Niger, requested permission to establish a drone base in a meeting with Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou. On 5 February, officials from both Niger and the United States said that the two countries signed a status of forces agreement that allowed the deployment of unarmed surveillance drones. In that month, US President Barack Obama sent 150 military personnel to Niger to set up a surveillance drone operation that would aid France in its counterterrorism efforts in the Northern Mali conflict. In October 2015, Niger and the US signed a military agreement committing the two countries "to work together in the fight against terrorism". US Army Special Forces personnel (commonly referred to as Green Berets) were sent to train the Niger Armed Forces (FAN) to assist in the fight against terrorists from neighboring countries. As of October 2017, there are about 800 US military personnel in Niger, most of whom are working to build a second drone base for American and French aircraft in Agadez. Construction of the base is expected to be completed in 2018, which will allow the US to conduct surveillance operations with the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper to monitor ISIL insurgents flowing south and other extremists flowing north from the Sahel region.

In 2015, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara was established by Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, who was a spokesperson and senior leader of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. In August 2013, MUJAO merged with al-Mourabitoun, which swore allegiance to al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri. In May 2015, Sahrawi spoke on the behalf of al-Mourabitoun and had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. However, the declaration was not recognized by the group's leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and the al-Qaeda loyalists, creating a split in the group. According to the United States Department of Defense, ISIL leaders in Syria had acknowledged Sahrawi's allegiance through their Amaq News Agency but ISGS "has not been formally recognized as an official branch of ISIL". The ISGS's first confirmed terror attack occurred on 2 September 2016 when fighters targeted a customs post in Markoye, Burkina Faso, an attack that left a border agent and a civilian dead. The ISGS had since been targeting pro-government militias that support the French and United Nations forces in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 46 attacks occurred since early 2016 in the Tahoua and Tillabéri regions of Niger. OCHA also said that seven districts in the two regions had been under a state of emergency since March 2017, and the government renewed the measure for an additional three months on 18 September. The FAN had launched a military operation to reestablish security in Tillabéri in June 2017.

Pre-ambush
On 3 October 2017, twelve soldiers from the US 3rd Special Forces Group accompanied thirty Nigerien soldiers from the Security and Intelligence Battalion (Bataillon Sécurité et de Renseignement or BSR) on a civil reconnaissance mission to gather information near Tongo Tongo in the Tillabéri region of Niger. In a video recorded before the ambush, young men on motorbikes armed with rifles and machine guns repeating Islamist slogans and discussing what to do if they captured soldiers, with one of them saying that they would decapitate them. The Americans were travelling in two technicals and one unarmed Toyota Land Cruiser. A fourth vehicle had been provided to the Nigeriens by the Central Intelligence Agency and had specialized surveillance equipment on board.

On 4 October, the soldiers met with local leaders, asking them for information about the whereabouts of an accomplice of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi. The US soldiers were divided in two groups: one that would stay back and guard the vehicles and another that would attend the meeting. However, the meeting would drag on with the local leaders delaying the soldiers' departure by stalling and keeping them waiting. The group guarding the vehicles began to suspect that something was wrong when the they witnessed two motorcycles race out of the village. At that moment, the unit believed that the local leader was complicit in an impending attack. After completion of the meeting, the soldiers were walking back to the rest of the unit and their unarmored pick-up trucks.

Ambush
While the soldiers were returning to base, about fifty armed ISGS militants believed to be led by Dondou Chefou, a lieutenant in the terrorist group whom the US code named "Naylor Road", began their assault against the soldiers. The militants, who had arrived with a dozen technicals and about twenty motorcycles, had been armed with light weapons, vehicle mounted weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars. With their vehicles under fire, the soldiers ran for cover, armed only with rifles, and began returning fire, killing some of the militants.

Within minutes of the ambush, an unarmed US drone captured video of the firefight. Half an hour into the ambush, French Mirage jets were ordered to respond to the ambush, and they arrived half an hour later. Even though there was now air support, the French pilots could not engage because they could not readily identify enemy forces in the firefight. Nevertheless, the presence of the fighter jets brought the engagement to an end. It was reported by CNN and Le Monde that two French Super Puma helicopters were brought in from Mali to evacuate those killed and injured,  but United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) spokesperson Robyn Mack said that Berry Aviation, an independent contractor, was "on alert during the incident and conducted casualty evacuation and transport for US and partner forces." Within three to four hours after the soldiers called in for support, a French special operations team arrived to the scene.

Casualties
Among the Nigeriens, five were killed and eight were wounded. Among the Americans, four were killed: Staff Sergeant Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Sgt. La David Johnson, and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright. However, Sgt. La David Johnson's body was not recovered until 48 hours after the ambush, because he had been separated from the other soldiers. The body of Sgt. La David Johnson was found nearly a mile (1.6 km) away from the scene of the ambush. According to Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, the Director of the Joint Staff, American, French, and Nigerien forces "never left the battlefield" until Sgt. La David Johnson's body was found. Two American soldiers who were wounded in the ambush were transferred to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. A senior US intelligence official told ABC News that at least 21 militants were killed.

Nigerien response
On 5 October, President Mahamadou Issoufou condemned the ambush and called for a moment of silence "to the memory of our soldiers who have fallen on the field of honour" and to the memory of "all victims of terrorism." On 6 October, Issoufou declared three days of national mourning. On 7 October, the deceased Nigerien soldiers were buried after their bodies were taken from the city morgue in Niamey with Defence Minister Kalla Moutari, US Ambassador Eunice Reddick, and Nigerien lawmakers watching. On 21 October, a Niger security source told AFP that the village chief, Mounkaila Alassane, was arrested for "complicity" with the militants. On 1 November, Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said that Niger was open to allowing US drone strikes against terror groups.

Executive response and controversy
The ambush was the deadliest combat incident on US soldiers since Donald Trump took office as President on 20 January 2017. On the day of the ambush, Trump was briefed by telephone by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. The former was aboard Air Force One, having left Las Vegas after visiting victims and first responders affected by a recent mass shooting. However, Trump did not make a statement on the ambush for the next twelve days; his lack of response drew criticism from commentators and the press. On 17 October, during a press conference, Trump was asked about his silence by a reporter and commented on the incident. Trump responded by saying that he wrote letters to the families of the victims, but falsely accused his predecessors, specifically President Obama, of not or rarely calling the families of deceased soldiers. Ten days earlier on 7 October, when the body of Sgt. La David Johnson was returned to the US at Dover Air Force Base, Trump was playing golf.

On 16 October, Trump called the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson. Representative Frederica Wilson, who was present during the call, said that Trump told the widow that Sgt. La David Johnson "knew what he signed up for" and only referred to him as "your guy", indicating that Trump did not actually know the soldier's name. This account was disputed by Trump, who said that he "had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife" and accused Wilson of "fabricating" her account. On 18 October, Sgt. La David Johnson's mother, who was also present during the conference call, confirmed Wilson's account saying "Yes, [Wilson's] statement is true," and "I was in the car and I heard the full conversation". Consequently, the White House ceased disputing Wilson's account with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders instead saying that Wilson willfully mischaracterized the spirit of the conversation. On CNN, Wilson said, "This might wind up to be Mr. Trump's Benghazi." Mark Landler and Yamiche Alcindor, reporters from The New York Times, drew comparisons between the incident with the phone call to Sgt. La David Johnson's widow and Trump's feud with the parents of another American soldier killed in action, Humayun Khan, during the 2016 presidential election in the US

On 19 October, Kelly, whose son was killed in the War in Afghanistan in 2010, defended Trump's call with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson. On 23 October, Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, said on ABC's Good Morning America that Wilson's account of the call with Trump was "100 percent correct" and that the call "made [her] cry even worse". She said she didn't like Trump's tone and that she broke down when Trump fumbled her husband's name. Myeshia Johnson wanted to see her husband's body, but the military did not allow her to. On the same day, Trump responded on Twitter by saying, "I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!"

On 25 October, Trump told reporters that he did not "specifically" authorize the mission in Niger. In a United Nations Security Council meeting on 30 October, US Ambassador Nikki Haley pledged $60 million towards a new counterterrorism force in West Africa. Haley also expected the G5 Sahel to "take on full regional ownership of the force within a period of three to six years, with continued US engagement." Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, said that the money would "bolster our regional partners" in fighting against militant groups.

Congressional response
Senator John McCain stated that the Trump administration was not being forthcoming about the details of the ambush. McCain also said that the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which he is the chairman, would like to get the information "it deserves and needs", before deciding whether a formal investigation is necessary. On 19 October, McCain said that a subpoena may be required to determine what happened in Niger. On 20 October, McCain and Mattis met in McCain's office in the United States Capitol. After the meeting, Mattis told reporters, "We can do better at communication." On the same day, Senator Lindsey Graham said that the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee will be briefed next week. After a meeting with Mattis, Graham told reporters that the rules of engagement would be changing and warned that Americans should anticipate more military operations in Africa as the war on terrorism continues to morph.

On 26 October, Robert Karem, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and Air Force Maj. Gen. Albert Elton briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee in a closed session. After the briefing, Senator Ted Cruz said that "on the initial assessment there were not significant steps that could have been taken to prevent this assault." However, Senator Richard Blumenthal said, "I could not look those families in the eye and say we’re doing everything we need to do to provide sufficient intelligence that will enable them to be successful in their missions and avoid the kind of catastrophe that we saw here." McCain said the ambush was "a direct result" of budget sequestration.

Investigation
Multiple US officials have told CNN that the French military is leading an investigation to gather intelligence about the perpetrators of the ambush. A spokeswoman from the French Ministry of the Armed Forces told CNN on 5 October that French soldiers, who were participating in Operation Barkhane and based in Chad, were involved in an operation in Niger. On 10 October, CNN reported that a US defense official had shared details of an after action report that consisted of interviews with the survivors of the ambush. A senior congressional aide told NBC News that the ambush was caused by a "massive intelligence failure" with no overhead surveillance of the mission nor a quick reaction force to swiftly respond in the event that the mission went wrong.

On 19 October, NBC News reported that AFRICOM sent a team to Niger to conduct a "review of the facts". James Mattis, the US Secretary of Defense, said that the ambush was "considered unlikely". Officials from the Department of Defense said that soldiers had carried out 29 similar operations in the past six months with no problems and were considered routine by the time of the ambush. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has since joined the investigation. On 23 October, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided new information about the ambush to the public and said that the operation was initially a reconnaissance mission. The US Department of Defense released military records on 26 October that showed that the killed US soldiers had little to no experience in combat. For Wright, Niger was his first overseas deployment.

On 2 November, four senior Nigerien officials told ABC News that the operation was always a kill or capture mission, contradicting the statement made by Dunford on 23 October.