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Defense Department officials are becoming increasingly convinced that a father of 10 was killed in a missile strike earlier this month rather than the intended target, a major al Qaeda figure, according to a report.
According to sources at U.S. Central Command who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, defense officials are reevaluating their initial claims regarding the May 3rd strike. At the time, the Pentagon said that the strike killed a “senior Al-Qaeda leader” is being reconsidered due to strong pushback from neighbors and conflicting evidence surrounding the death of Lotfi Hassan Misto, a 56-year-old bricklayer from northwest Syria who died in the attack.
“We are no longer confident we killed a senior AQ official,” one official told the Post, with a second DoD official noting, “Though we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the person to be al-Qaeda.”
Misto’s family positively identified his body following the missile strike and consistently claimed that he had no connections to Al-Qaeda. They also stated that there are no known affiliates of the terrorist organization in the local area the Post’s report stated.
The incident raises concerns regarding the accuracy and reliability of the U.S. intelligence that justified the strike, though U.S. military officials have been hesitant to disclose their methodology to the public for further examination and scrutiny.
Misto was “old fashioned,” according to his family, and did not have modern devices like a cell phone. Rather, he worked his job and tended to his chickens, they added. He was also the father of 10 children.
“He was born here and died here,” a neighbor who called himself Abu Zaid told the Post.
His brother was adamant: “If they claim that he’s a terrorist or that they got someone from al-Qaeda, they’re all liars.”
According to Jerome Drevon, a senior analyst on jihad and modern conflict with the International Crisis Group, it is common for terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda to publicly declare the death of prominent leaders and glorify their “martyrdom.” However, in this particular instance, Drevon notes that there was no such announcement or celebration the Post noted.
After facing accusations of cover-ups and concerns over civilian casualties and missed targets, the Biden administration made a commitment last year to enhance transparency regarding its drone strikes. The Washington Post and other media organizations have delved into the impact of “confirmation bias” on the military’s effectiveness in executing such operations.
That bias was cited by Air Force and Pentagon officials as a contributing factor in a 2021 incident where 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, lost their lives in an unintended drone strike in the immediate aftermath of President Joe Biden’s deadly, disastrous pullout from that country.
Last month, former President Donald Trump called the people in the White House “morons” and President Biden himself “the biggest moron” after the administration found a way to blame him for the withdrawal.
“These Morons in the White House, who are systematically destroying our Country, headed up by the biggest Moron of them all, Hopeless Joe Biden, have a new disinformation game they are playing – Blame ‘TRUMP’ for their grossly incompetent SURRENDER in Afghanistan,” Trump said on his Truth Social account.
“I watched this disaster unfold just like everyone else. I saw them take out the Military FIRST, GIVE $85 Billion of military equipment, allow killing of our soldiers, and leave Americans behind. Biden is responsible, no one else!” he said.
He made the comments after National Security Council spokesman John Kirby answered questions about a report that examined the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
The report blames the unmitigated disaster on the fact that Trump had promised to have all U.S. troops removed from Afghanistan by May 2021.
