Niger ambush, deaths highlight U.S. Africa military mission creep

A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright of Lyons, Georgia, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, U.S. on October 5, 2017. Courtesy Aaron J. Jenne/U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS

NAIROBI/ABIDJAN (Reuters) - U.S. special forces soldiers were training their Nigerien counterparts in the West African nation's volatile southwest, a growing hot-bed of jihadist violence, when the report came in of a raid nearby.

The assailants were believed to be led by Dondou Chefou, a lieutenant in a new group operating along the Mali-Niger border and called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. A decision was soon taken to pursue them.