U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) is investigating a number of images posted on social media that claim to be from an ISIS video that claims to show four U.S. soldiers who were killed when ambushed in Niger in October.
“USAFRICOM is aware of a post on Twitter purporting to show a U.S. soldier from the Oct. 4 ambush in Tongo Tongo, Niger,” AFRICOM said in a statement Wednesday. “We are reviewing the post and determining the veracity of the tweet and the assertions that there is an associated video. We cannot comment further on this issue, or the ongoing investigation related to the Oct. 4 ambush until the investigation is complete.”
The Twitter account created two posts about the alleged video, which was reportedly given to the author by the Mali offshoot of ISIS.
“The video shows one side of the attack, the American dead, some photos were shot by an American soldier, but ISIS took them after the photographer was killed,” the Twitter account posted, according to Military Times.
It is unclear if the video was manipulated to make it appear as if these were the soldiers killed in the October ambush.
AFRICOM is currently investigating the ambush that led to the deaths of Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson and Sgt. La David Johnson of the 3rd Special Forces Group.
During the attack, 12 American soldiers and 30 Nigerian troops were ambushed by roughly 50 militants. Two other American soldiers and eight Nigerian forces were injured.
