Tongo Tongo ambush

Tongo Tongo ambush
Part of Operation Barkhane, Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara, and Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
Date 4 October 2017 Location Tongo Tongo, Tillabéri, Niger 15°3′11.56″N 1°50′7.85″E / 15.0532111°N 1.8355139°E / 15.0532111; 1.8355139Coordinates: 15°3′11.56″N 1°50′7.85″E / 15.0532111°N 1.8355139°E / 15.0532111; 1.8355139
Belligerents
Niger  United States  France Berry Aviation	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi Dondou Chefou
Units involved
Security and Intelligence Battalion 3rd Special Forces Group Unnamed special operations team	Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
Strength
30 soldiers 1 vehicle 12 soldiers 2 technicals 1 unarmed Toyota Land Cruiser Unknown soldiers Fighter jets 2 helicopters	~50 militants 12 technicals ~20 motorcycles
Casualties and losses
9 killed, 10 wounded 5 killed, 8 wounded 4 killed, 2 wounded	21 killed
Tongo Tongo Location within Niger

External video

Defense Department briefing with Pentagon spokesperson Dana White and Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, October 12, 2017, C-SPAN

Statements by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis regarding the Oct. 4 incident in Niger, October 19, 2017, C-SPAN

Defense Department briefing with Dana White and Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, October 19, 2017, C-SPAN

The Tongo Tongo ambush was a 4 October 2017 attack on Nigerien and American soldiers in Tongo Tongo, Niger, by armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). The ambush left five Nigeriens, four Americans, and 21 militants dead.

In January 2013, a senior Niger official told Reuters that Bisa Williams, the then-United States Ambassador to Niger, requested permission to establish a drone base in a meeting with Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou. On 5 February, officials from both Niger and the United States said that the two countries signed a status of forces agreement that allowed the deployment of unarmed surveillance drones. In that month, US President Barack Obama sent 150 military personnel to Niger to set up a surveillance drone operation that would aid France in its counterterrorism efforts in the Northern Mali conflict. In October 2015, Niger and the US signed a military agreement committing the two countries "to work together in the fight against terrorism".US Army Special Forces personnel (commonly referred to as Green Berets) were sent to train the Niger Armed Forces (FAN) to assist in the fight against terrorists from neighboring countries. As of October 2017, there are about 800 US military personnel in Niger, most of whom are working to build a second drone base for American and French aircraft in Agadez. Construction of the base is expected to be completed in 2018, which will allow the US to conduct surveillance operations with the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper to monitor ISIL insurgents flowing south and other extremists flowing north from the Sahel region.