Pentagon officials on Tuesday noted that the investigation into the deadly Niger ambush last month is expected to be completed in January 2018, but could take longer than originally planned, The Hill informs.
U.S. Army officials have contacted the family members of the four Army Green Berets killed October 4 during an ambush in Niger “in order to provide a timeline on U.S. Africa Command’s investigation into the incident.” the Department of Defense said in a statement.
“Families were informed that AFRICOM’s investigation team will travel to locations in the U.S., Africa and Europe to gather information related to the investigation. U.S. Army Major General Roger Cloutier, AFRICOM’s chief of staff, will lead the command’s investigation team,” Pentagon stated.
The Defense Department and the FBI last month launched investigations to determine what went wrong in the attack, which also resulted in the injury of two other U.S. soldiers near the village of Tongo Tongo. The group of U.S. soldiers and 30 Nigerien troops were ambushed coming back from a reconnaissance mission in the village, The Hill adds. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford has pledged transparency on the Pentagon’s findings when the probe is completed.
“We owe you more information; more important, we owe the families of the fallen more information. That’s what the investigation is designed to identify.” Dunford stressed.
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