Sgt. La David T. Johnson who was part of a joint U.S. and Nigerien train, advise and assist mission.
Sgt. Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida, died October 4, 2017 in southwest Niger as a result of enemy fire.
Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Thursday that the "US
military does not leave its troops behind" but did not provide
additional details into why the body of Sgt. La David Johnson was
recovered nearly 48 hours after his 12-member team was ambushed by 50
ISIS fighters in Niger.
"The US military does not leave its troops behind and I would
just ask that you not question the actions of the troops who were caught
in the firefight and question whether or not they did everything they
could in order to bring everyone out at once," he told reporters.
Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie told reporters
Thursday that US, French and Nigerien forces "never left the
battlefield" until Johnson was found.
Three senior US officials told CNN on Wednesday that Mattis wants answers regarding the ambush in Niger two weeks ago.
Mattis is dismayed at the lack of detailed information he has
received about the attack, but there is no indication he is trying to
unduly hurry the investigation being carried out by US Africa Command,
according to all three officials -- all of whom are in a position to
have knowledge of how Mattis views the situation.
"This was a hard fight, this was a very tough fight," Mattis
told reporters last week -- providing little detail about what multiple
US officials have described to CNN as a scene of confusion on the
ground during an unexpected firefight.
The investigation will be an effort "to get all the facts correct,"
an administration official familiar with the review has told CNN. White
House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was asked Wednesday whether Trump was
satisfied with the information he has received about the mission and
ambush.
The four soldiers gunned down by terrorists in Niger
"I believe they're still looking into the details of that," Sanders replied. "But I don't think that the President can ever be satisfied when there's loss of life from men and women in uniform."
Details related to the deadly
military breakdown remain murky two weeks after the incident in Niger as
investigators work to determine precisely what happened, a US official
has told CNN.
Experts working for Africa Command are trying to establish an
hour-by-hour timeline of what happened as part of a comprehensive
investigation that includes all the military branches and elements of US
intelligence agencies that were involved in the mission.
Officials who have spoken to CNN have cautioned that as the
investigation continues new information is likely to emerge and their
understanding of what happened could change.
Very little has been said publicly, but the information that has
emerged in the wake of the attack paints a troubling picture of what
transpired.
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