Drone laden with explosives targets Iraq PM's house, Kadhimi unharmed after ‘failed assassination attempt’
Several members of Kadhimi's personal protection were injured as the attack came after protests in the Iraqi capital over the result of a general election last month turned violent.
FollowIraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi’s residence in Baghdad was targeted with a drone laden with explosives early on Sunday. The Iraqi military called the attack an attempted assassination but said Kadhimi escaped unhurt.
A drone tried to target the residence of the premier, who was not injured, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement. In a tweet, the Iraqi PM said that the “rockets of treachery” will not discourage the believers. “The steadfastness and insistence of our heroic security forces will not falter as they work to preserve the security of the people, achieve justice and enforce the law. I am fine, praise be to God, among my people, and I call for calm and restraint from everyone, for the sake of Iraq,” he said.
Several members of Kadhimi's personal protection were injured as the attack came after protests in the Iraqi capital over the result of a general election last month turned violent. Alleging voting and vote-counting irregularities, the groups leading protests and complaints about the result of the October vote are heavily-armed Iran-backed militias which lost much of their parliamentary power in the election.
Meanwhile, as of now no group immediately has claimed responsibility for the attack. Western diplomats based in the Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, said they heard explosions and gunfire in the area, reported Reuters.
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Protests by supporters of parties who dispute the results of the vote turned violent on Friday when demonstrators pelted police with stones near the Green Zone, injuring several officers. The police responded with tear gas and live gunfire, killing at least one demonstrator, according to security and hospital sources in Baghdad, reported Reuters.
According to a report titled ‘Drones and the IED threat’ by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), the threat from drones capable of delivering IEDs is evolving and the operating environment in Syria and Iraq will not only allow users to learn new lessons rapidly but also to test new methods of attack.
The report states that with the arrival of larger drones or more powerful motors, the IED payloads will increase in size which will make it more attractive to the user for delivering larger payloads.
