Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

Mission in Niger is one special forces have engaged in 'since JFK'

Military Times: WASHINGTON — The deaths of four U.S. soldiers in Niger in an early October ambush has cast a spotlight on a once-obscure mission in the West African nation. Reports indicating U.S. and Nigerien forces were surveilling an Islamic State recruiter when they were ambushed has renewed questions about the scope of the U.S. operation.

However, the public speculation is partially due to a misperception of what special forces soldiers do in train, advise and assist missions, according to one former U.S. special operations soldier with several years of experience operating in the Sahel region of Africa.

“We aren’t trying to run a covert war there — that is not what is going on,” the former operator told Military Times on the condition of anonymity. “The scope of this is what may seem a little weird to people.”

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