The fourth U.S. soldier killed in Niger has been identified as Sergeant La David T. Johnson.
The 25-year-old of Miami Gardens, Florida, was killed when a joint patrol of American and Niger forces were ambushed by militants believed to be linked to the Islamic State group.
Johnson was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The military says his body was found Friday after an extensive search.
Sergeant La David T. Johnson, 25, has been identified as the fourth US soldier killed in Niger during an ambush believed to have been orchestrated by the Islamic State group on Wednesday. Johnson is of Miami Gardens, Florida
He was known as ‘Tee’ at his local high school and was nicknamed ‘Wheelie King 305’ due to his love of cycling, ABC Local 10 reports. The area code 305 covers the Miami area. He worked at a Walmart before joining the army.
‘The Bush Hog (Johnson’s battalion) was made better because of Johnson’s faithful service,’ Lieutenant Colonel David Painter said in a statement.
The bodies of the three other U.S. troops were recovered shortly after Wednesday’s attack, which also killed four Niger military members.
They were Staff Sergeant Bryan Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington; Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia.
All three fatalities were commandos stationed in Fort Bragg, the US Army base in North Carolina which is the largest military installation in the world.
The U.S. military had announced on Friday that a fourth soldier had been killed, but declined to identify him at first at the Pentagon’s request.
The three other soldiers killed were identified on Friday. Pictured is one of the three, Sergeant Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington
Pictured is Sergeant Dustin M Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia. The ambush occurred near Niger’s border with Mali
Pictured is Sergeant Jeremiah W Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio. US and Niger forces were ambushed by militants who rode in a dozen vehicles
The U.S. and Niger forces were leaving a meeting with tribal leaders when they were ambushed near the village of Tongo Tongo, which is near the African country’s border with Mali. The assailants rode in 12 vehicles, the army said.
Eight Niger soldiers and two US troops were wounded in the attack, but they were evacuated from the area on Wednesday after the attack unfolded.
Islamist militants form part of a regional insurgency in the poor, sparsely populated deserts of West Africa’s Sahel.
Jihadists have stepped up attacks on UN peacekeepers, Malian soldiers and civilian targets since being driven back in northern Mali by a French-led military intervention in 2013.
Malian militant groups have expanded their reach into neighboring countries, including Niger, where a series of attacks by armed groups led the government in March to declare a state of emergency in the southwest.
U.S. special operations forces have been working with Niger’s military in the fight against extremists in the African region.
Members of the US Army are pictured transferring the remains of Wright on October 5 upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware
US Army Special Forces observe as Niger armed forces fire their weapons with the assistance of illumination rounds during Exercise Flintlock 2017 in Diffa, Niger this past March. US special operations forces have been working with Niger’s military in the fight against extremists
On Saturday, Niger buried its soldiers killed in the ambush. Nigerien Defense Minister Kalla Moutari, US ambassador Eunice Reddick and other lawmakers watched as the four bodies were taken from the city morgue in Niamey, before being buried in a cemetery.
With tears in their eyes, the widows, children and relatives of those killed also took part in the ceremony, during which Nigerien soldiers praised their fallen comrades for their ‘dynamism’ and ‘bravery’ in the fight against ‘terrorists’.
‘We will never forget you,’ they said, adding that ‘the entire nation expresses its heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice made’.