Iraqi PM decries 'cowardly' attack on his home by drones carrying explosives

Shafaq News / Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi escaped unharmed from an armed drone assassination attempt in Baghdad, officials said on Sunday, in an incident that raised tension in Iraq weeks after a general election disputed by Iran-backed militia groups.

Kadhimi appeared in a video footage published by his office on Sunday chairing a meeting with top security commanders to discuss the drone attack.

"The cowardly terrorist attack that targeted the home of the prime minister last night with the aim of assassinating him, is a serious targeting of the Iraqi state by criminal armed groups," his office said in a statement after the meeting.

Six of Kadhimi's guards outside his residence in the fortified Green Zone were wounded, security sources told Reuters.

Three drones were used in the attack, including two that were downed by security forces while a third drone hit the residence, state news agency INA quoted an interior ministry spokesperson as saying.

A spokesperson for the armed forces commander in chief said that after the attack the security situation was stable in the Green Zone, which houses the residence, government buildings and foreign embassies.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Source: Reuters