A U.S. military official said Tuesday night that the team of U.S. and Nigerian forces ambushed earlier this month had been asked to look into the physical site of where a high-value target had been, although they were not asked to be a part of a mission to capture the individual.

The U.S. special forces unit ambushed by Islamic militants in Niger didn’t call for help until an hour into their first contact with the enemy, the top U.S. general said Monday, as he tried to clear up some of the murky details of the assault that killed four American troops and has triggered a nasty political brawl.