Iraqi PM says unhurt after drone attack on residence in Baghdad

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi says he is unhurt and appeals for “calm and restraint” after a drone laden with explosives targeted his residence in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone.

According to Press TV, a statement released by the Security Media Cell, affiliated with the Iraqi prime minister’s office, said Kadhimi was subjected to a failed assassination attempt with a booby-trapped drone early Sunday. 

The statement said the drone attack targeted his residence in the Green Zone of Baghdad, but the Iraqi prime minister was “unharmed” and is “in good health.”

Two government officials said Kadhimi's residence had been hit by at least one explosion. Security sources said six members of Kadhimi's personal protection force stationed outside his residence had been injured.

Western diplomats based in the Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, said they heard explosions and gunfire in the area.

“I'm doing fine, praise be to God, and I call for calm and restraint on the part of everyone for the good of Iraq,” the Iraqi prime minister wrote on Twitter after the incident.

Later on Sunday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced that three drones were involved in the assassination attempt.

The director of the Interior Ministry’s media department slammed the targeting of the Arab country’s prime minister as a “terrorist act.”

“The attempt to assassinate the prime minister was made by three drones, and the sound of gunfire that was heard was that of shooting down the drones,” Major General Saad Maan said.

He added that two of the drones were downed.

ME