US admits its airstrike killed civilian in Syria mistaking him for terrorist

The US has admitted that its airstrike in Syria on May 3 last year killed a civilian, mistaking him for a senior Al-Qaeda leader, CNN reported.

An investigation was ordered by US Central Command (CENTCOM) last year, the findings of which were made public on Thursday. The report “concluded the strike was conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict as well as Department of Defense and CENTCOM policies” but “revealed several issues that could be improved”.

According to CNN, the investigation was completed in November 2023, but CENTCOM did not disclose its findings until Thursday.

However, many of the facts of the investigation remain classified.

“We are committed to learning from this incident and improving our targeting processes to mitigate potential civilian harm,” the summary of the report states.

The family of Loutfi Hassan Mesto, the man who was killed in the airstrike, claimed that he was not an Al-Qaeda leader but a farmer. However, the US government did not launch an official investigation into the incident for nearly eight weeks.

A defence official told CNN that the delay in the release of findings was due to coordination issues with multiple organisations.

However, Mesto’s family was not offered a compensation, the defence official told CNN, adding that the payment was considered but “determined not appropriate”.