After claiming a drone strike in Syria earlier this month killed a 'senior al-Qaeda leader,' the U.S. military is now saying it is 'no longer confident' in that assessment.
The Pentagon said earlier this month, without providing evidence, that a U.S. drone strike in northwest Syria killed a"senior al-Qaeda leader."
But U.S. military officials are now beginning to walk back the claim as the victim's family insists the father of 10 had no connections to terrorist organizations and was herding his sheep when he was slain by a Hellfire missile on the morning of May 3. Lotfi Hassan Misto, a 56-year-old former bricklayer, has been identified by his family as the victim of the drone strike,Thursday, citing interviews with the man's brother, son, and several people who knew him.The operation that killed Misto, thereported,"was overseen by U.S. Central Command, which claimed hours after the strike, without citing evidence or naming a suspect, that the Predator drone strike had targeted a 'senior al-Qaeda leader.
One unnamed U.S. military official told the newspaper that the Pentagon is"no longer confident" that the strike killed an al-Qaeda leader. Another official said that"though we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the person to be al-Qaeda." The entire U.S. drone program, including the process by which officials choose their assassination targets, is