INTELLIGENCE/MILITARY: “A U.S. Army Green Berets patrol, outnumbered by suspected Islamic State militants, fought for two hours in Niger before air support provided by French military jets arrived, a top U.S. official said Monday [10-23-17], much longer than previously reported by Pentagon officials.
The Special Forces unit didn’t call for help for an hour after shooting started, and French Mirage jets didn’t arrive for another hour after that, said Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. By that time, the Army would determine later, four U.S. soldiers had been killed and two others wounded.
Gen. Dunford, speaking at a hastily convened Pentagon news conference, provided the most detailed public accounting to date of what happened in the Oct. 4 ambush of 12 U.S. and 30 Nigerien troops, which marked the single deadliest American toll resulting from military combat so far during the Trump administration…
U.S. officials earlier had said French planes were overhead within 30 minutes after first contact. Gen. Dunford said that estimate was based on incomplete information.”
-Ben Kesling, “U.S. Revises Timeline on Niger Battle,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 24, 2017 07:54am