US forces face increasing hostility in Middle East amid Gaza conflict

A malfunctioning drone in Iraq may have prevented the United States from being drawn further into an increasingly intense Middle East war.

Before dawn on October 26, an Iranian-backed militia launched the drone at the Erbil air base. According to two U.S. officials familiar with the situation, the drone breached American air defences and crashed into the second floor of the barracks housing American troops at roughly five in the morning.

The officials, who wished to remain anonymous in order to speak freely about the incident, claimed that although the explosives-laden device did not explode, only one service member ended up with a concussion from the impact. They continued by saying that the drone could have exploded and caused havoc, so the U.S. had been lucky.

According to Pentagon data and the two U.S. officials, the incident was one of at least forty distinct drone and rocket attacks against U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria during the previous three weeks in retaliation for American support for Israel in the Gaza war.

With many of the rockets and one-way attack drones intercepted by American air defences in Iraq and Syria, where 3,400 American troops are stationed, the bombardment has only resulted in a few dozen minor injuries thus far.

It’s unclear how President Joe Biden would react in the event of a significant attack that claimed many American lives. Having struggled in polls leading up to the presidential election of the following year, Biden has thus far attempted to restrict American involvement in the conflict to supplying Israel with military assistance.

The conflict began on October 7, when gunmen from Hamas, the militant organisation that controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza and receives funding from Iran, stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,400 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapping over 240 others. Over 10,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s constant bombardment of the coastal region since then, many of them were children.

Iran has welcomed the attack on Israel on October 7, but it claims no part in the Hamas raid.

In an effort to pressure Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to take decisive action against the militias operating there and prevent further escalation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Iraq on Sunday, the scene of the majority of attacks against American forces.

Five senior lawmakers in Sudan’s ruling coalition, the premier’s security adviser, and a militia commander claim that Sudan has not had much success in stopping the militia groups’ onslaught or persuading their Iranian backers to rein them in.

According to seven people who were either present or were briefed on the meeting, the prime minister and roughly ten senior members of his government met with the leaders of roughly a dozen militia groups in Baghdad on October 23 to pressure the groups to stop their attacks on U.S. forces.

However, the majority of the commanders promised to continue their attack until Israeli forces lifted their siege and stopped bombarding the Gaza Strip, so the plea was largely ignored, they continued.

(With agency inputs)