Niger: a Sahel country bumping along (catch all)

[AdamG]

More 'anonymous sources'.

A military probe concluded that Johnson wasn't captured alive or killed at close range, dispelling a swirl of rumors about how he died, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin says.
The report has determined that Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida, was hit as many as 18 times and killed by enemy rifle and machine gun fire from members of an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) offshoot, according to U.S. officials familiar with the findings. The Oct. 4 ambush took place about 120 miles north of Niamey, the African nation's capital. Johnson's body was recovered two days later.
U.S. officials familiar with the findings spoke on condition of anonymity to describe details of an investigation that has not been finalized or publicly released.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/army-sg...ilitary-report

[davidbfpo]

Posts 18 onwards were in a separate thread on the deaths of four US SOF, which had 7k views and has now been merged to here.

[davidbfpo]

Previously unheard of development in northern Niger and very relevant as the last paragraph citing a local leader who says:

"I hope this continues forever, because it brings peace...All of these people do not have work.They can't make money any other way.

Link:https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/9...ts-into-barons

Note the reporter accompanied a Nigerien National Guard patrol, not the army or police, to the region.

[davidbfpo]

Try this WoTR article which is a gem on the often confusing and deteriorating situation. Here is a taster:

Though some armed groups have adopted jihadist ideologies, the proliferation of these groups remains an intensely local phenomenon. The central cause of conflict in most cases is the behavior of state actors, not the spontaneous appearance of foreign jihadists.

Link:https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/th...-in-the-sahel/

[AdamG]

Inquiry of Soldiers’ Deaths Urges Curtailing West Africa Missions

WASHINGTON — A draft military investigation into the deadly ambush of American soldiers in Niger in October calls for the Pentagon to scale back the number of ground missions in West Africa, and to strip commanders in the field of some authority to send troops on potentially high-risk patrols.
While United States troops will continue accompanying local forces on military patrols across West Africa and the continent’s Sahel region, the missions will be vetted more rigorously than they have been over the past year, according to two military officials with knowledge of the findings who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation has not been released.

.....
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/u...s&nlid=4952992