Islamic State Releases Video of a Deadly Attack on U.S. Soldiers by Amanda Erickson – Washington Post
The Islamic State just released a video that allegedly shows three U.S. soldiers being attacked in Niger.
The video, which has been circulating for months among journalists, reportedly shows three soldiers on the run from militants. The men have few resources to fend off dozens of militants armed with machine guns and grenades.
The scene comes from an Oct. 4 attack on U.S. troops near the Niger-Mali border. A team of 12 U.S. soldiers had been sent on a mission with a team of Nigeriens. (The Pentagon has declined to explain their assignment; U.S. officials previously told reporters that the patrol had been asked to help a team hunting for a senior Islamic State member.)
On their way back, they stopped at a village for food and water. U.S. military officials think a villager may have alerted militants that U.S. commandos were near, setting off an ambush. Four U.S. soldiers were killed in the firefight. The remains of three soldiers were found the day of the attack. The fourth, La David T. Johnson, was found two days later, prompting questions about how he'd died and whether he'd been captured alive or killed at close range…