US mistook enemy drone for one of its own in deadly Middle East attack

Good morning. The US military failed to stop the enemy drone that killed three of its service members after mistaking it for an American drone that approached a base near Jordan’s border with Syria at the same time, a US official said.

The preliminary assessment was disclosed as the US considers its response to the attack that took place over the weekend, the first to kill US troops since the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7 triggered a wave of assaults by Iranian-aligned groups against American forces in the region.

US officials said they were still assessing who was responsible for the drone attack but saw links to Iraq-based Kataib Hizbollah, an Iranian-backed militia.

Iran has sought to distance itself from the deadly attack, as it and the US appear keen to avoid a further escalation. Iran’s foreign ministry labelled any accusation that it was involved in the US troops’ deaths as a “baseless” conspiracy by those “interested in dragging the US into a new conflict in the region to intensify the crisis”.

But Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said yesterday that “Iran bears responsibility because it funds these groups in Iraq and Syria that launch attacks on our service members”. Read the full story.

• Go deeper: The Middle Eastern borderlands where Sunday’s drone attack took place have long been a “tinderbox”, FT Middle East correspondent Raya Jalabi reports.

• More on the Israel-Hamas war: Twelve employees of a UN aid agency alleged to have played a part in the October 7 attacks on Israel included one who kidnapped a woman and another who seized the body of a slain soldier, according to a leaked Israeli intelligence assessment.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The EU releases its flash fourth-quarter gross domestic product estimate, while France reports monthly consumer spending figures.

• Reports: The IMF launches its World Economic Outlook.

• Results: Alphabet, Canon, Komatsu and Microsoft report earnings.

Five more top stories

1. A Hong Kong court has ordered China Evergrande to be wound up after the developer failed to come up with a restructuring plan that would satisfy international creditors, despite months of talks. Trading was halted in the Hong Kong-listed shares of the world’s most indebted property developer and two of its subsidiaries after the ruling. Here’s more on the uncertainty ahead for the group.

• FT View: China Evergrande’s demise represents a cautionary tale for investors, other indebted businesses and China’s own leadership, writes the editorial board.

2. US and Chinese officials will this week hold talks aimed at stemming the flow of chemicals from China used to make fentanyl as they implement a deal struck by President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping in November. US officials said China had already taken some positive actions since Biden and Xi agreed at a summit in San Francisco to resurrect a counter-narcotics working group.

3. Japan has resurrected a spacecraft that lost power shortly after making a historic lunar touchdown this month, allowing it to resume a mission that seeks to illuminate the origins and composition of the Moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed yesterday that it had established communication with the vessel, which is now resting on the lunar surface in what appears to be an upside-down position.

4. Renault has cancelled plans to list shares in its new electric vehicle and software business, a pivotal part of chief executive Luca de Meo’s turnaround plans for the French carmaker. The aborted flotation is the latest casualty of slowing growth in EV sales worldwide, as mainstream car buyers balk at higher prices of battery-powered cars.

5. A British-Chinese woman has gone on trial for laundering bitcoin derived from a £5bn fraud in China committed by her employer, a fugitive from the Beijing authorities, a court heard yesterday. Prosecutors said more than 128,000 investors in China between 2014 and 2017 had their funds stolen. Here’s more on the hearing.

The Big Read

JSR — a leading provider of the chemicals used for printing circuit designs on chip wafers — embodies one of the few areas of the semiconductor industry where Japan retains dominance. Before it was taken over last year in a $6.4bn deal not even many Japanese had heard of it. But the government-backed takeover has rekindled memories of heavy state intervention and cast doubt on corporate reforms.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

More than 1,500 people were killed in terrorist attacks in Pakistan last year, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a private monitor. That is more than 50 per cent up on 2021’s toll and three times the number in 2020, the last full year before US forces withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban swept back to power.

Take a break from the news

“Death by meeting,” “the tower of no”, “blowhard bosses” — a new book by Stanford professors Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao focuses on these descriptions of the unnecessary bureaucracy and outright jobsworthiness that plague many organisations.

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith