On October 4, 2017, a vehicle convoy of Nigerien soldiers and 10 U.S. Special Forces moved out of the village of Tongo Tongo to capture IS leader Doundou Chefou. Only a short time later, the Green Berets were to become the hunted themselves in one of the most losing battles.
As soon as they left the village, the rear vehicles were fired upon from a well laid ambush. Enemy fire was weak at first, but became stronger as they drove into a wooded area. To counter the enemy, the soldiers stopped and sat down under cover fire. Then the Green Berets team leader along with 4 Nigerien soldiers executed a flanking maneuver on top of the ambush, engaging 4 IS fighters and clearing about 50 – 100 enemy with mortars, armed trucks & motorcycles advancing on main forces.
The leader recognized the danger, ran back to the convoy and ordered the American and Nigerien soldiers to evade. Since most of the forces were spread out in space, the evasion was delayed, which is why there were 3 Green Berets with a vehicle on the battlefield at the end.
The Special Forces were now outnumbered 3:100 by the enemy and had no heavy weapons or air support. Following the principle of “fire and move,” they tried to disengage from the enemy, but the IS fighters were too fast and too many. SSG Bryan Black died while running alongside the vehicle trying to provide covering fire to his comrades from the movement.
With enemy pressure too great, SSG Jeremiah Johnson and SSG Dustin Wright had to leave their comrade’s body behind and continue to evade on foot. In the coverless steppe, Johnson was finally hit and left wounded. Wright turned, saw Johnson, and decided not to leave his brother to the enemy. He ran back and defended Johnson until he, too, was hit and went down. A short time later, the IS fighters executed both soldiers at close range.