Iraq: Prime Minister escapes “assassination attempt” with drone – archyworldys

Iraqi Prime Moustafa al-Kazimi came out “unscathed” from a “failed assassination attempt” committed on the night of Saturday to Sunday using a “trapped drone” which targeted his residence in the Green Zone in Baghdad , his office said. This attack was not immediately claimed and it was not known whether it had caused any injuries, as well as the extent of the material damage.

“I am fine, thank God, and I call for calm and restraint on the part of all for the good of Iraq,” Kazimi wrote on Twitter. According to his office, this “failed assassination attempt” was carried out by means of “a trapped drone [qui] attempted to target ”his residence.

Two security sources claimed that a “rocket” fell on Moustafa al-Kazimi’s house in the Green Zone, an ultra-protected perimeter located in the heart of the capital of Iraq and which also houses the US Embassy and government buildings.

After the attack, security forces were deployed in large numbers inside and around the Green Zone, according to a security source. Rocket attacks against the Green Zone are recurrent. On October 31, three rockets fell in Mansour, an adjoining neighborhood, without injuring anyone.

The United States immediately condemned this “apparent act of terrorism”. “We are relieved to learn that the Prime Minister is unharmed,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “We are in close contact with the Iraqi security forces responsible for upholding the sovereignty and independence of Iraq and have offered our assistance in their investigation of this attack,” he added.

Strong political tensions since the early parliamentary elections

Sunday’s attack on Kazimi, who has been in power since May 2020, comes at a time when Iraq is crossed by strong political tensions linked to the early parliamentary elections of October 10. Hachd al-Chaabi, an influential coalition of former pro-Iran paramilitaries, vehemently contests the election results. Its political showcase, the Conquest Alliance, has seen its number of seats in parliament shrink, preliminary results show.

Clashes pitted several hundred Hashd supporters with security forces near the Green Zone on Friday. According to a security source, a protester died, while a source within Hachd al-Chaabi spoke of “two deaths”.

Hachd al-Chaabi supporters launched two sit-ins at two different entrances to the Green Zone in protest against the elections, which the Hachd leadership describes as “fraud” and “swindle”.

Despite its electoral rout, the Hachd will remain an important political force in Parliament, thanks to the game of alliances and the co-optation of independent elected representatives. Still according to the preliminary results, the Sadrist current led by the influential Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr won first place in the legislative elections, with more than 70 seats out of the 329 in Parliament. The final election results should be published within a few weeks.