US officials have backed off claims that the strike in Syria killed a senior al-Qaeda leader

Lotfi Hassan Misto, 56, whose family identified him as a victim of the Hellfire missile attack on May 3, is a former bricklayer who lives quietly in this northwestern Syrian town, according to interviews with his brother, son and six others who knew him. . They described a kind, hard-working man whose “whole life was spent in poverty.”

The operation was overseen by US Central Command, who claimed hours after the strike, without citing evidence or naming a suspect, that the Predator drone strike targeted a “senior Al Qaeda leader.” But now there is doubt within the Pentagon about who was killed, two US defense officials told The Washington Post.

“We are no longer confident that we have killed a top AQ official,” an official said. Another, offering a slightly different view, said “although we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the man is al-Qaeda.” Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the preliminary determination of the ongoing investigation into the incident.

In the weeks since the attack, US military officials have refused to publicly identify who they targeted, how the apparent mistake occurred, whether a legitimate terrorist leader escaped and why. some in the Pentagon maintain that Misto is a member of al-Qaeda despite his family. denials.

In a statement, Michael Lawhorn, a spokesman for Central Command, said officials were aware of reports of a civilian casualty and were continuing to assess the outcome.

“Centcom takes all allegations seriously and is investigating to determine if the action may have inadvertently resulted in civilian casualties,” Lawhorn said Thursday.

The Pentagon usually expands such investigations when there is enough credible evidence of harm to civilians, which raises questions in this case about whether the information used to authorize the attack continues to be investigated.

Last year, facing accusations that the military had covered up past instances of botched airstrikes that killed innocent people, the Biden administration vowed to take steps it said would reduce such risks while promising the greater transparency when unexpected execution occurs. Investigations conducted by several media outlets, including The Post, revealed how faulty intelligence and what the military calls “confirmation bias” led to disaster, including a 2021 strike during the evacuation of US in Afghanistan which officials initially said resulted in the death of a suicide bomber but instead killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children.

The Pentagon’s plan aims to reduce civilian deaths from airstrikes

The Post provided four terrorism experts with details about Misto and where he lived, and asked them to survey online discussions among jihadists after the strike for any mention of attack on Qorqanya. No references were found to indicate that Misto was affiliated with a terrorist group. And each said it was highly unusual for al-Qaeda — especially a senior leader — to operate in any meaningful way near an area controlled by a rival group that broke away from the organization. . years ago and now considers al-Qaeda an enemy.

The drone strike happened near Misto’s house and chicken farm. The Post shared the coordinates with a US defense official, who said the location was near a “known area of ​​interest” to al-Qaeda but declined to specify which building or buildings. concerns the United States. Misto’s neighbors told The Post that the terrorists did not live or operate near the house.

It is not clear whether the American commanders in charge of the strike were aware that Misto lived nearby, and whether the proximity of his home to al-Qaeda’s “known area of ​​interest” was a factor in their belief that he was a militant.

The Post obtained pictures showing Misto’s face before and after his death and provided them to the Central Command. Officials there have not said whether they believe he is the man killed in the strike. Two facial recognition experts who examined the images said they were confident they showed the same person, with one expert analysis reaching 90 percent certainty. The third found inconclusive results.

Details about what happened before and after the US attack were gleaned from interviews with Misto’s family and neighbors and images provided by the Syrian Civil Defense, a humanitarian response group commonly called that “White Helmets” responded to the location of the strike within minutes.

Misto’s neighbors described her routine of drinking tea with family and friends, taking care of her animals and leaving the house mostly to pray at her mosque. He is a traditionalist Muslim, they said, and no phone.

The morning of May 3 was not unusual, his son Hassan said. Misto gathered with the family around 7:30 in the morning. We had breakfast and everything was fine, and then he went to herd his sheep,” the son recalled.

Misto rested after a few hours outside near his house to have tea with his brother. They parted ways around 11:30 a.m., and he returned to his animals as they grazed in a rolling field of bushes, twisted trees and rocks.

An MQ-9 Predator drone soared overhead, following Misto’s footsteps across the field. Such planes have been surveying the area for nearly two weeks, neighbors said. He was hit by a Hellfire missile not far from where he was drinking tea with his brother just 20 minutes ago.

The explosion sent a column of smoke into the bright blue sky, alarming the town.

A local resident contacted the White Helmets through an emergency number, and a team of first responders arrived within 10 minutes. At least one was wearing a video camera on his helmet.

The first unpublished video, provided to The Post, shows a dozen people standing nearby as aid workers arrive. Most stared in shock. Some were crying.

The video shows two men trying to pull one of Misto’s sons, Muhammed Misto, from his father’s badly mutilated body while another man covers it with a shirt. Misto’s wife identified her husband’s body to the White Helmets, said a spokesman, who took the body to a hospital in the town.

Video and pictures published online show sheep carcasses mixed with fragments from the missile.

Often, when al-Qaeda leaders are killed, sympathizers announce their deaths online as a celebration of martyrdom, said Jerome Drevon, a senior analyst on jihad and modern conflict at the International Crisis Group. If the victim is a low-level member of the organization, the groups may not announce their death, he said, but people who are close to them, often tell how they are connected to the group. In this case, Drevon said “nothing.”

Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which closely tracks the online activity of jihadist organizations, found nothing online that suggested Misto was active or tied to al-Qaeda. None of the posts Katz reviewed cast doubt on Misto’s civilian status, he said.

Former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria seeks to soften its brand

“Very quickly after this strike, the White Helmets came out and identified the individual by his name and his profession. The locals came to say, this man has always been a farmer. He does not have any political activity; he has absolutely no ties to armed groups,” said Charles Lister, the director of Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism at the Middle East Institute. “The pace and extent of such a push is truly extraordinary.”

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a militant group that controls the de facto local government and military forces in Syria’s Idlib province, visited the site later in the day and removed the missile components. A spokesman for the group, also known as HTS, told The Post that the victim was a civilian. The group did not respond to additional questions or requests for comment.

HTS, a US-designated terrorist group, is affiliated with al-Qaeda but severed ties in 2016 and has since removed anyone from the area who disagrees with its views, experts said. .

Although some al-Qaeda leaders are still on the ground in Idlib province, Drevon said, “they are literally unable to move because HTS has banned them from conducting any military activity. They are all alive underground or living on the run. They know that HTS can arrest them at any time.

In interviews, Misto’s family and longtime neighbors said the accusation of an al-Qaeda connection struck them as strange.

“He was born here and died here,” said a neighbor who called himself Abu Zaid.

Misto’s brother taught more. “If they claim he’s a terrorist, or that they got someone from al-Qaeda,” he said, “they’re all liars.”

Kelly and Horton report from Washington and Piper reports from London. Sarah Dadouch in Beirut, Cate Brown in Washington and Nilo Tabrizy in New York contributed to this report.