dakar/bamako five soldier niger three u.s. army special force troop kill two wound ambush joint patrol southwest niger wednesday accord nigerien u.s. officials five green berets attack routine patrol area know presence insurgents include al qaeda islamic maghreb aqim islamic state u.s. official tell reuters unclear fire u.s. u.s.-backed force official say force patrol area specific objective high-value target rescue hostage official add spokesman u.s. africa command confirm attack radio france international rfi report lethal ambush near niger/mali border confirm report joint u.s. nigerien patrol come hostile fire southwest niger say spokesman namatta abubacar official region tillaberi niger say five nigerien soldier among dead niger diplomatic source say attackers come mali kill several soldier without say whether u.s. troop station west african country among victims u.s. president donald trump brief telephone attack white house chief staff john kelly trump fly back air force one las vegas visit victims first responders affect sunday mass shoot rfi say early wednesday counter-attack underway african security force back western troop step efforts counter jihadist group form part grow regional insurgency poor sparsely populate desert sahel relatively new militant group call islamic state great sahara claim attack geoff d. porter head north africa risk consult say confirmation islamic state role wednesday strike would lead strategic shift libya toward sahel band stretch eastwards senegal chad emphasis ... shift south say u.s. africa command hundreds soldier deploy across region include air facility agadez offer train support niger army aspects intelligence gather surveillance u.s. nigerien troop kill ambush patrol niger