Posted on 05/19/23
| News Source: WION
A top US defence source confirmed to Fox News that the country's military authorities are retracting their assertion that a senior al Qaeda commander was killed in a recent drone operation in Syria. The Washington Post reported the story first. According to the Post, Lotfi Hassan Misto, 56, was recognised by his family as the victim of the American missile strike on May 3.
The operation was overseen by US Central Command, or CENTCOM, which said in a statement the day of the strike that it had carried out a strike "targeting a senior Al Qaeda leader."
No more information was given, and the victim's identity remained a secret. Misto's family asserts that he was caring for his sheep when he was slain and that he had no connections to terrorist groups.
According to Misto's family, he was a father of 10 who quietly resided in a town in northwest Syria and lived in poverty for the majority of his life.
“We are no longer confident we killed a senior AQ official,” one official said.
Also speaking on the condition of anonymity was another official source who said “though we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the person to be al-Qaeda.”
Michael Lawhorn, a spokesman for Central Command, said, “Centcom takes all such allegations seriously and is investigating to determine whether or not the action may have unintentionally resulted in harm to civilians."