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According to a report by the Washington Post on Thursday, the man killed in a US drone strike in northwestern Syria earlier this month may not have been a senior al-Qaeda leader as initially claimed by the Pentagon.
The Pentagon has refrained from disclosing the name of the target of the attack. However, the victim's relatives and neighbors vehemently deny any affiliation with extremist or terrorist groups.
Unnamed US officials cited by the Post expressed doubts regarding the accuracy of the strike, which took place in a rural area of Idlib Province on May 3.
One official stated, "We are no longer confident we killed a senior AQ official," referring to al-Qaeda. The second official added that while they believe the strike did not hit the intended target, they still believe the individual to be associated with al-Qaeda.
Residents of the Syrian village, where the US strike occurred, identified the victim as Lotfi Hassan Misto, a 56-year-old farmer and father of 10. Witnesses claimed that Misto was tending to his flock of sheep when he was killed by a Hellfire missile. Family members and neighbors assert that Misto had no connections with any terrorist organization.
Misto's brother expressed his disbelief, stating, "If they claim that he's a terrorist, or that they got someone from al-Qaeda, they're all liars."
Michael Lawhorn, spokesperson for US Central Command, stated that the military is taking the allegations seriously and is conducting an investigation to determine whether any unintentional harm was caused to civilians.
When presented with the coordinates of the strike site, which was near Misto's home and chicken farm, an unnamed military official referred to the location as a "known area of interest" to al-Qaeda. However, local residents disputed this claim, insisting that terrorists do not reside or operate in close proximity to Misto's home.
This incident follows a previous acknowledgement by the Pentagon that a drone strike in Kabul in 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals, was a "tragic mistake." Initially, the US claimed to have targeted a high-level Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) terrorist but later admitted that civilians were mistakenly killed in the raid.