US military acknowledges errant drone strike killed civilian, not al-Qaeda leader
U.S. Central Command is acknowledging that one year ago Friday, it mistakenly struck a civilian in a strike in Syria, not the al-Qaeda leader it was looking for.
“Mr. Lufti Hasan Masto (Masto), was struck and killed instead. Many of the facts and other findings of the investigation involve classified information and cannot be shared publicly,” CENTCOM wrote in a statement Thursday.
“What we can share is the investigation concluded the strike was conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict as well as Department of Defense and CENTCOM policies. However, the investigation revealed several issues that could be improved,” the statement read.
US military acknowledges errant drone strike killed civilian, not al-Qaeda leader
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Matt Seyler contributed to this report.