CENTCOM extends investigation into possible civilian death in Syria
Mike Brest
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U.S. Central Command has extended the deadline for investigators to conclude whether a civilian was killed in a May 3 strike in Syria.
Initially, CENTCOM said it had targeted a senior al Qaeda member in northwest Syria, but there were reports within days that the person killed in the strike, identified as Lotfi Hassan Misto, had merely been tending his sheep at the time of his death and that he had no terrorist ties.
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CENTCOM Commander Michael “Erik” Kurilla directed an investigation to be conducted on June 6, about a month after the strike occurred, and the commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve initiated the investigation on June 23.
The AR 15-6 investigation had a 30-day timeline, which would’ve expired this week, though a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that a three-week extension was granted. The new deadline will fall in the middle of August.
“This is to allow for a complete investigation,” the spokesperson said.
The team of investigators, led by a general officer and composed of subject matter experts, is reviewing pre-strike conduct and post-strike actions, including scrutinizing compliance with policies intended to minimize civilian harm.
Misto was killed by a missile strike on the outskirts of Qurqaniya, north of Idlib, on May 3, the Syrian Civil Defense, a humanitarian response group known as the “White Helmets,” said on social media. It said they arrived on the scene 10 minutes after a local resident contacted them about the strike.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed the Pentagon to reduce civilian casualties in U.S. military operations and released an action plan in 2022 that called for more standardized processes for sharing data and processes to reduce civilian casualties. His plan was announced in the aftermath of a botched U.S. strike in Afghanistan the year before that killed 10 civilians, targeting a person who didn’t have terrorist ties.
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The Taliban rapidly ascended to power in August 2021, defying U.S. expectations as the military was preparing to end its 20-year-long occupation in Afghanistan. U.S. forces launched a noncombatant evacuation operation to save Afghan allies who’d be at risk under a Taliban regime. Already reeling from a suicide bomber who killed 13 U.S. troops and roughly 170 Afghans, the U.S. military launched a strike it said stopped an imminent threat. Once the fog of war cleared, the Pentagon admitted that Zemari Ahmadi, the target of the strike, did not pose a threat or have ties to terrorist groups.
No one was punished for the botched strike that an investigation concluded did not violate any laws.