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1 [1] (October 5, 2017)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmbcse0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS INSIGHT Attack on U.S. Soldiers in Niger: Context and Issues for Congress October 5, 2017 (IN10797) Related Author Alexis Arieff Alexis Arieff, Specialist in African Affairs (aarieff r loc.aov, 7-2459) On October 4, kur members of U.S. Special Operations Forces were killed and two wounded in an attack in western Niger, an emerging hot spot of Islamist extremist activity. The Defense Department (DOD) stated in a briefin o QbtQr that the U.S. servicemembers were conducting an advise and assist mission with local counterparts, several of whom were also killed. The identity of perpetrators has not been confirmed. The incident has high lihte evolving security threats in West Africa's Sahel region, as well as the growing presence of U.S. military forces engaged in counterterrorism support in Africa. The situation in Niger poses issues for Congress pertaining to oversight of U.S. policy toward fragile states in the Sahel, U.S. security assistance and foreign aid, and U.S. counterterrorism activities abroad. If an Islamist armed group was responsible, as some repQrungg t, this would be the first known incident in which such a group has killed U.S. soldiers on active duty in the Sahel. Western civilians, including several U.S. citizens, have died, however, in a recent series of mass-casualty attacks by Islamist extremists in regional capitals. The first reported prolonged h aag,-taking of an American citizen by an Islamist group in the Sahel occurred in Niger in October 2016, underscoring the changing threat landscape. Security Environment News reports mdimaI that the attack occurred near the town of Tongo Tongo (see Figure 1), in a border region where a number of armed groups are active. These include locally-led factions affiliated Al Qaeda and the Islamic State organization, ethnic militias, separatist rebels, drug traffickers, smugglers, and bandits, with the lines between these categories oftn blurred. (See CRS In Focus IF10172, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Ma hreb (AQIM) and Related Groups.) Islamist armed groups regularly conduct attacks against local targets-notably focusing on government officials, prisons, schools, and individuals accused of collaborating with the state or with French-led counterterrorism operations -and aaainst U. N k r in Mali. Some analysts assert that the often heavy-handed counterterrorism approach of local security forces has contributed to worsening in ili. Figure 1. Niger at a Glance