The other soldier crouches by the hood of the vehicle. Johnson crouches by the rear of the Landcruiser, the ground around him covered in shell casings. Automatic weapons fire from multiple directions is heard.
The driver of the Landcruiser jumps out and helps Johnson drag the downed soldier to cover.Ī firefight ensues. The soldier wearing the helmet cam, who appears to be La David Johnson, checks the body. One of the US soldiers walking by the Landcrusier crumples to the ground in the chaos. The driver of the Landcruiser steers it from a prone position, with his legs sticking out the passenger side door, as two other soldiers move along side firing at the enemy. Soldiers walk next to each vehicle, laying down suppressive fire as the vehicles roll over the desert scrub.Īfter a cut, it appears that the Nigerien support personnel and tactical vehicle are gone, and three US soldiers are making a final stand by the Landcruiser. It would be two hours later until French jets arrived to provide air support.
Together with a few Nigerien allies, the US soldiers move with each vehicle toward colored smoke grenades that have been deployed for cover and to alert air support. The helmet cam portion of the video begins with the Americans pinned down under gunfire next to a tactical truck and a Toyota Landcruiser. Killed were Staff Sergeant Bryan Black, 35 Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson, 39 Sergeant La David Johnson, 25 and Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright, 29. The ambush occurred as a unit of 12 American special forces soldiers and 30 Nigerien troops returned from the village near the border with Mali, where they had been hunting for a senior Islamic State member. It also sparked a furious dispute between President Donald Trump and a Democratic congresswoman from Florida who claimed he slighted the family of one of the soldiers. The attack raised questions about the US military's role in Niger, where about 800 US military personnel are stationed to train local forces and operate drones.
The video reveals heartbreaking details about the courageous last moments of the four soldiers, although it is edited with multiple cuts that make the full context of the firefight unclear. The 9 minute, 15 second video ( nearly 2 minutes cut off ) appears to be shot from multiple helmet cams on the US soldiers who died in on October 4 in Tongo Tongo, Niger in an ambush by 50 ISIS militants. ISIS has released a video appearing to show their fighters ambushing and killing four US soldiers in Niger.