Drone attack on US troops intercepted in Iraq, heightening fears of a regional conflagration

Two suicide drones launched at a base hosting US troops in Iraq were intercepted Wednesday, a defence official said.

Hours later, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq announced it had launched another drone attack on a second base. No injuries were reported in either incident.

The salvos came at a time of increasing tension and fears of a broader regional war in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war.

Since the beginning of the war on October 7, all eyes have been on Hezbollah, the powerful Hamas ally across Israel’s northern border in Lebanon and its formidable arsenal.

The group has traded so-far limited strikes with Israel on the border in recent days. But Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also threatened to attack US facilities over American support for Israel.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi,

head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement last Wednesday. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.

The group issued another statement in which it blamed the US and its support for Israel for the catastrophe.