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06:42 GMT
WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (KUNA) -- A "full investigation" is under way in the deaths of four US service members this month in a deadly ambush in Niger, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday.
"We have been engaged with the French and African forces in the Lake Chad region for some time supporting the French-led and African troops" in the campaign against the so-called Islamic State (IS), the terrorists, the radicals, those who foment instability and murder and mayhem," Mattis said
The Defense chief spoke during a Pentagon appearance with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman prior to their meeting.
The French maintain more than 4,000 troops in the region near the Niger-Mali border while the US has more than 1,000, Mattis said. "Mostly, we're providing refueling support, intelligence support, surveillance support," he said. "But also we have troops on the ground. Their job is to help the people in the region learn how to defend themselves."
"This is an example of how seriously we take this mission that we put our troops in that position," Mattis said.
Responding to some news reports, Mattis said that 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."
The French response to the Oct. 4 attack by up to 50 IS fighters included fighter aircraft, helicopter gunships and a medevac helicopter that lifted out the wounded, he said.
"We did have a contract aircraft that lifted out our killed in action," Mattis said.
The body of Sergeant La David Johnson, one of the four US soldiers killed, "was found later by local nationals," he said. "And it says something that they would then endeavor to get the body back to us, which shows the relationship that we have in this area." (end)
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