Pentagon: Niger ambush investigation to finish in January

Pentagon officials on Tuesday said the investigation into the deadly Niger ambush last month is expected to be completed in January 2018, but could go longer.

A Defense Department statement adds that U.S. Army officials have contacted the family members of the four Army Green Berets killed Oct. 4 during an ambush in Niger “in order to provide a timeline on U.S. Africa Command’s investigation into the incident.” 

“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 Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier, AFRICOM’s chief of staff, will lead the command’s investigation team,” according to the Pentagon.

{mosads}The Defense Department and the FBI in October 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.

Details of the attack have trickled out slowly since then, but Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford has pledged transparency on the Pentagon’s findings when the investigation is completed.

“We owe you more information; more important, we owe the families of the fallen more information,” he said. “That’s what the investigation is designed to identify.”