Pentagon ‘No Longer Confident’ Drone Strike Killed an Al Qaeda Boss: Report

The U.S. military is walking back a claim that a recent strike in rural northwest Syria meant to target a powerful al Qaeda leader was successful, lending weight to claims that the man killed was a civilian with no ties to terrorism. The slain man, Lotfi Hassan Misto, died after being hit by a Hellfire missile on May 3, according to his family. They identified him as a former bricklayer and father of 10, with his brother telling the Associated Press soon after that the killing was “an injustice and an aggression.” U.S. Central Command insisted at the time that its “unilateral strike” had targeted a “senior al Qaeda leader,” but has since confirmed it is investigating the reports that Masto was a civilian. Two U.S. defense officials told The Washington Post on Wednesday that those inside the Pentagon are now uncertain as to who was killed. “We are no longer confident we killed a senior AQ official,” one official said. The other official added that “though we believe the strike did not kill the original target, we believe the person to be al-Qaeda.”