Condemns Drone Attack On His Residence, Iraqi PM Holds Meeting With Top Security Commander

Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa al-Kadhimi. (Wikimedia Commons/The Media Office of the Prime Minister of Iraq)

JAKARTA - Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi escaped unscathed from an assassination attempt by an armed drone in Baghdad, officials said on Sunday, in an incident that raised tensions in Iraq weeks after a disputed general election by the group. Iran-backed militia groups.

PM Kadhimi appeared in video footage published by his office on Sunday presiding over a meeting with top security commanders to discuss the drone strike.

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

Security sources said six guards of Iraqi Prime Minister Kadhimi outside his residence were injured in the attack.

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

A spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said after the attack the security situation was stable in the Green Zone, which houses residences, government buildings, and foreign embassies. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The attack came two days after clashes in Baghdad between government forces and supporters of an Iran-backed political party that lost dozens of parliamentary seats after the October 10 general election. Most parties have armed wings.

PM Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the deaths and injuries of demonstrators and security forces in the clashes.

President Barham Salih condemned the attack as a heinous crime against Iraq.

"We cannot accept that Iraq will be dragged into chaos and a coup against its constitutional system," he said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose party was the biggest winner in last month's election, called the attack a terrorist act against Iraq's stability aimed at "returning Iraq to a state of chaos to be controlled by non-state forces".

For investigations, security forces retrieved the remains of a small drone laden with explosives, a security official familiar with the attack told Reuters.

"It is too early to say who carried out the attack," the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on security details.

Separately, the United States, United Nations, Saudi Arabia and Iran condemned the attack. Washington also offered to help with the investigation.

"The perpetrators of terrorist attacks in this country of Iraq must be held accountable. I strongly condemn those who use violence to undermine Iraq's democratic process," US President Joe Biden said in a statement, praising Kadhimi's call for "calm, restraint and dialogue."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Iraqis "to exercise complete restraint and reject all violence and any attempt to destabilize Iraq," his spokesman said, adding that Gutteres urged all parties to resolve differences through dialogue.

To note, the leaders of various political parties, most of which have armed wings and are allied with Iran, condemned the drone attack and called on the government to investigate and hold the perpetrators accountable.

A security official from the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq rejected suggestions on Sunday that Iraqi groups were behind the attack on Kadhimi.