The US military has acknowledged that it mistakenly killed a civilian man in Syria in an airstrike after misidentifying him as a senior al Qaeda leader. The investigation into the incident was completed in November but the findings were not publicly disclosed until recently. While the strike was deemed to be in compliance with the law of armed conflict, issues were identified that could be improved upon. The exact details of these issues remain classified.
Questions arose immediately after the May 3, 2023, airstrike regarding the identity of the individual killed, with the man’s family asserting that he was not a terrorist but a farmer and father. It took almost eight weeks after the incident for an official investigation to be initiated. The delay in publishing the findings was attributed to the need to coordinate with various organizations, including the Syrian White Helmets. The senior general overseeing US forces in the Middle East ordered the announcement that a senior al Qaeda leader had been targeted, even before the identity of the deceased was confirmed.
The family of the civilian man killed in the airstrike was not offered compensation following his death. An ex gratia payment was considered but ultimately deemed inappropriate based on the circumstances of the situation and limitations in policy and practicality. It remains unclear why the military decided against providing compensation in this instance. The incident has sparked discussions about the implementation of the military’s civilian harm mitigation policy, which aims to prevent and address civilian casualties resulting from US military operations.
The civilian harm mitigation policy was established in 2022, following a deadly drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. In that incident, a formal investigation was launched promptly, and ex gratia payments were offered to family members of the victims. The investigation into the death of Loutfi Hassan Mesto involved a team of senior officials and experts in intelligence, law of armed conflict, operations, and targeting matters. The team conducted interviews, visited multiple sites, and consulted with non-governmental organizations.
Mesto’s family has maintained that he was grazing his sheep when he was killed and was not involved in any political activities during the Syrian uprisings. The incident has highlighted the challenges and complexities of conducting military operations in civilian areas and the importance of mitigating harm to non-combatants. The US military has expressed a commitment to learning from this incident and improving targeting processes to minimize the risk of civilian casualties in future operations. It remains to be seen how the findings of this investigation will inform future military practices and policies around civilian harm mitigation.
