Iraqi PM survives drone assassination attempts

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi managed to avoid being victimized by assassination attempts by drone equipment, left unaffected, with at least seven security guards injured. Following the incident, tensions are only growing across the nation.

Armed with explosive arms, an unidentified unmanned air vehicle stroke Prime Minister Kadhimi’s official residence located in the Green Zone area in Baghdad early on Sunday morning, reported Reuters. Such risk attacks were attempted on one of the most securely protected areas in the capital city, home to government buildings and foreign embassies.

Not any armed group has yet publicly claimed that it was involved in the attacks. In the meanwhile, suspicions are growing that the Fatah Alliance, which sides with the pro-Iran Shiite militia, might have led the terrorist act as it has mounted anti-government protests arguing that the current Iraqi regime rigged the general elections on Oct. 10. While Shiite militia protestors on Friday tried intruding into the Green Zone chanting slogans against the election rigging, conflicts broke out to leave one dead and a large group injured.

In this year’s general elections, the Fatah Alliance was only limited to 14 seats, less than one third of its portion (48 seats) in 2018. Although Prime Minister Kadhimi is a Shiite Muslim, the group has stood against him since he took office last May on the grounds that he is a pro-U.S. leader.

The terrorist acts in Baghdad have been met with strong condemnations across the international community. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed Washington’s condemnations of the terrorist attempts targeting the heart of the Iraqi government, reaffirming its determination to cooperate closely with the Iraqi forces to identify who is held responsible.


Seong-Ho Hwang hsh0330@donga.com