Iraqi Prime Minister Survives ‘Assassination Attempt’

GIOTV reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt after a drone laden with explosives targeted his residence in the capital, Baghdad.

Al-Kadhimi escaped unhurt, but security sources told Reuters news agency that at least six members of the prime minister’s personal protection force were wounded in Sunday’s attack.

Al-Kadhimi appealed for calm and restraint in a post on Twitter.

“I’m doing fine, praise be to God, and I call for calm and restraint on the part of everyone for the good of Iraq,” he said.

He later appeared on Iraqi television, seated behind a desk in a white shirt, looking composed. “Cowardly rocket and drone attacks don’t build homelands and don’t build a future,” he said.

The early morning attack came after deadly protests in the Iraqi capital over the result of a general election on October 10.

The groups leading the protests are heavily armed Iran-backed militias that lost much of their parliamentary power in the election. They have alleged voting and vote-counting irregularities.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack on al-Kadhimi’s residence in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies.

A statement from the Iraqi military said the failed assassination attempt was with “an explosives-laden drone” and that the prime minister was in “good health”.

“The security forces are taking the necessary measures in connection with this failed attempt,” it said.