U.S. soldier killed in Niger apparently was executed: report

SHARE U.S. soldier killed in Niger apparently was executed: report
trump_fallen_soldier_funeral_72058503.jpg

Members of the 3rd Special Forces Group Airborne 2nd Battalion leave pins and salute the casket after the burial of Army Sgt. La David Johnson at the Hollywood (Fla.) Memorial Gardens on Oct. 21. Sgt. Johnson was killed in an ambush by extremists in Niger on Oct. 4. | Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, distributed by the Associated Press

One of four U.S. soldiers killed in an ambush by Islamist militants last month in Niger was found with his arms bound with rope, suggesting he was captured and executed, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Two days after the Oct. 4 attack, residents of the remote village Tongo Tongo found the body of Sgt. La David Johnson face-down in a bushy area, with his wrists tied behind his back and a wound to the back of his head possibly caused by a gunshot or hammer, the Post reported.

Sgt. La David Johnson | U.S. Army via AP

Sgt. La David Johnson | U.S. Army via AP

A U.S. military official acknowledged Johnson’s body was viciously battered but said it was too early to tell if he had been captured and executed, telling the Post that Johnson’s hands were not tied when Americans retrieved his body.

Johnson was found separately, and two days later, from the other slain soldiers. Staff Sgts. Bryan C. Black, Jeremiah W. Johnson, and Dustin M. Wright were found in or near a pickup truck, according to the report.

Five Nigerian soldiers were killed in the ambush as well.

Among the unanswered questions is whether the commando unit was carrying out its assigned mission at the time of the ambush, which also left five Nigerien soldiers dead. Officials think the attack was carried out by a relatively new offshoot of the Islamic State group called the Islamic State in the Sahel.

Pentagon officials have told the victims’ families that their investigation, spanning numerous locations across the U.S., Africa and Europe, won’t be complete until January at the earliest.

President Donald Trump’s consolation phone call to Johnson’s family spurred controversy when a U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson accused Trump of disrespecting Johnson’s widow.

Contributing: Associated Press

The Latest
The Cubs opened the season against the reigning World Series champions in Texas.
Murder charges have been filed against suspect Christian I. Soto, 22. Investigators haven’t determined a motive for the attacks, but they say Soto had been smoking marijuana before the rampage.
To celebrate the historic coinciding of the emerging of two broods, artists can adopt a cicada for free in exchange for decorating it and displaying it publicly. Others can purchase the cicadas for $75.
Senators tasked with clearing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appointments are raising concerns over his renomination of Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau after the Sun-Times last year reported an executive assistant accounted for more than $240,000 in billings.