US senators said yesterday the White House has not been forthcoming with details about the military’s presence in Niger after the deaths of four soldiers there earlier this month and they want more answers on US operations in the west African country.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said in separate interviews that they support Republican Senator John McCain’s effort to get answers from the Pentagon on the ambush and more broadly on the US fight against ISIS in Niger.
Graham and Schumer said they had been unaware of the large US presence in the country and said Congress needs more information on what could become a long and open-ended involvement.
“I didn’t know there was 1,000 troops in Niger,” Graham said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “This is an endless war without boundaries and no limitation on time and geography,” he added. “You’ve got to tell us more and he is right to say that.”
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told Graham and McCain, who serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Friday that the military is shifting its counter-terrorism strategy to focus more on Africa and expanding the ability to use force against suspected terrorists.
The attack earlier this month, which US officials suspect was carried out by a local Islamic State affiliate, has thrown a spotlight on the US counter-terrorism mission in Niger, which has about 800 US troops. 
US President Donald Trump drew attention to the ambush after sparring last week with Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who criticised the president for what she said were insensitive remarks to the widow of one of the fallen soldiers.
Democrat Schumer said on the same programme on Sunday that he, like Graham, had also been unaware of the large presence of US troops in Niger and is also awaiting more answers from the military this week.