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Regretfully admitting leader of British airstrike is missing (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

afraid

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'regretfully' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

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(Other definitions for afraid that I've seen before include "Feeling anxiety or fear" , "Scared, apprehensive" , "Scared - politely regretful" , "with butterflies" , "makes one panicky" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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