The US retracts killing a senior al Qaeda official in a drone strike in Syria, according to The Washington Post

May 19. (EUROPE PRESS) –

US military officials have retracted a recent report that the target of a drone strike in Syria was a senior al Qaeda official, after the deceased’s family indicated he had no ties to terrorists, they have learned. know ‘The Washington Post’.

The family of the deceased -identified as Lotfi Hassan Misto, 56 years old- had denounced that he was a father of a family with ten children who took care of his sheep when he was killed by a US missile.

After these statements, there are doubts within the Pentagon about the identity of the person killed, according to various sources consulted on anonymity by the aforementioned newspaper.

“We are no longer sure that we have killed a senior al Qaeda official,” one of the officials said. The other, offering a slightly different view, has explained that “although we believe the attack did not kill the original target, we believe the person was from al Qaeda.”

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported in early May the death of a senior Al Qaeda official in a “unilateral” attack carried out by US forces in northwestern Syria, without providing further details about the operation. or the identity of the target.

A CENTCOM spokesman, Michael Lawhorn, later stated that the government is aware of the claims of a civilian casualty and is therefore investigating the incident.

Last year, faced with allegations that the military had covered up previous cases of botched airstrikes that killed innocent people, the Joe Biden administration vowed to take steps it said would reduce those risks, while promising greater transparency when unintentional deaths occurred, collects The Washington Post.