US Killed Civilian Farmer, Not Top Al Qaeda Leader in 2023 Airstrike, CENTCOM Admits

The U.S. military has concluded a 2023 airstrike they initially said targeted a senior Al Qaeda leader in northwest Syria had actually killed a lone civilian farmer. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)—the military component overseeing U.S. operations throughout the Middle East—said in a May 3, 2023, statement that its forces had conducted a unilateral strike targeting an Al Qaeda member. The initial CENTCOM statement did not identify the suspected Al-Qaeda leader, but the military command said, “We will provide more information as operational details become available.” Around the same time CENTCOM reported this strike, other reports emerged that an unidentified drone had fired upon and killed Lotfi Hassan Misto (spelled alternately as Lutfi Hasan Masto) while he was tending to his ship in a field near the northwest Syrian town of Qorqanya. Neighbors told The Washington Post that Mr. Misto, 56, was a father of 10 children....