That the United States had special forces deployed in Niger wasn’t exactly a secret before the announcement that four US troops were killed in an ambush near the Malian border. It wasn’t exactly public knowledge, either. The report that the US was sending troops to Niger for “training” back in 2015 was scarcely reported. The first indication
US Troop Deaths In Niger Reflect Growing Africa Mission Creep
Just as the establishment of CENTCOM in 1983 gave way to decades of US wars in the Middle East, the AFRICOM creation in 2007 has sewn the seeds for American wars across Africa.