Iraqi prime minister chairs security meeting after assassination attempt

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi chaired a security meeting on Sunday after a failed assassination attempt at his residence.

His media office released a photo on Twitter that showed al-Kadhimi at the head of a table with top security commanders to discuss the events that had unfolded earlier that day, when three armed drones targeted the prime minister.

Security forces intercepted and downed two of the drones but the third hit the prime minister’s residence, Reuters reported, citing state news agency INA, which heard from an interior ministry spokesman.

إن من يظن أن يد قواتنا لا تصل إليه فهو واهم، وليس هناك كبير أمام القانون، وليس هناك كبير على العراق.

النصر للعراق.

المجلس الوزاري للأمن الوطني pic.twitter.com/Tbv733c25C

— المكتب الإعلامي لرئيس الوزراء (@IraqiPMO) November 7, 2021

Six individuals on al-Kadhimi’s personal protection team were injured in the attempted assassination, Reuters reported. They were reportedly outside the prime minister’s residence in the Green Zone.

The security situation in the Green Zone, which encompasses the prime minister’s residence, government buildings and foreign embassies, was stable after the attack, according to the news service, which cited a spokesman for the armed forces commander in chief.

Al-Kadhimi’s office condemned the incident, calling it a “cowardly terrorist attack.”

“The cowardly terrorist attack that targeted the home of the prime minister last night with the aim of assassinating him, is a serious targeting of the Iraqi state by criminal armed groups,” his office said in a statement, according to Reuters.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the incident was an “apparent act of terrorism” that the U.S. “strongly condemn[s].”

The attempted assassination occurred weeks after Iraq held general elections that were stymied by Iran-backed militia groups, Reuters noted. Voter turnout was low in the country.

Proponents of the pro-Iran Shiite militias, which saw the largest losses in the election, have been pushing against the results.