SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said those who carried out a drone attack on his residence in Baghdad were well known.
Kadhimi escaped unharmed in what Iraqi military said an “assassination attempt” by armed drone in Baghdad.
Three drones were used in the attack, including two that were intercepted and downed by security forces while a third drone hit the residence, according to the Iraqi interior ministry.
The Iraqi military said several members of Kadhimi’s personnel protection force stationed outside his residence in the Green Zone were wounded.
“We will pursue those who committed yesterday’s crime. We know them well, and we will expose them,” Kadhimi said after convening an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Images published by Iraqi news agency INA showed damage to some parts of the prime minister’s residence and a damaged SUV vehicle parked in the garage.
Remains of a small explosive-laden drone were retrieved by security forces to be investigated.
Iraqi 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.
Shia 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 that aimed to “return Iraq to a state of chaos to be controlled by non-state forces”.
The United States, UK, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as other Arab countries, Egypt and Lebanon condemned the attack.
