Iraqi PM survives assassination attempt

Iraq's Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, survived an assassination attempt on Saturday night after armed drones targeted his residence in Baghdad, reports The Associated Press.

Two Iraqi officials told AP that seven of al-Kadhimi's security guards were injured in the attack, but the Prime Minister himself was unharmed.

"I am fine and among my people. Thank God," the Prime Minister tweeted shortly after the attack. He called for calm and restraint, "for the sake of Iraq."

He later appeared on television and said, "Cowardly rocket and drone attacks don’t build homelands and don’t build a future."

In a statement, the government said an explosives-laden drone tried to hit al-Kadhimi´s home. Residents of Baghdad heard the sound of an explosion followed by heavy gunfire from the direction of the Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and government offices.

The US condemned the incident and offered its assistance with the investigation.

"This apparent act of terrorism, which we strongly condemn, was directed at the heart of the Iraqi state," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Rocket attacks have regularly targeted Iraqi bases as well as the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located, since the US elimination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last January.

In late June, the US launched air strikes against three targets it said were used by pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria and western Iraq.

A day later, pro-Iranian militias fired several shells at a US base in eastern Syria's Al-Omar oil field, causing damage but no casualties.

Subsequently, a drone was intercepted and shot down near the US embassy in Baghdad. Sources said the drone failed to reach the embassy compound. There were no injuries.

Then, an explosive-laden drone attacked Erbil airport in northern Iraq. The drone reportedly targeted the US base on the airport grounds. A day later, two rockets were fired at the US embassy inside Baghdad's Green Zone.