Iraq's prime minister escapes drone attack on his Baghdad residence
Iraq, a country that is going through a long period of turmoil due to internal political and economic problems, has been shocked by the news of an assassination attempt against the acting prime minister, Mustafa al-Kazemi.
An early morning drone strike on the residence of Iraq's top leader injured several of the national leader's bodyguards, but al-Kazemi was unharmed.
"I am well, thank God, and among my own," Mustafa al-Kazemi said on the social networking site Twitter early this morning. The prime minister himself confirmed in person that he had survived the suicide drone attack on his residence in Baghdad's Green Zone, which is home to most of the international delegations and official buildings in the Iraqi capital. After this offensive, which was reported by Shafaq News, the prime minister invited "everyone to calm and constructive dialogue" for Iraq, despite all that has happened.
This event is yet another episode in the turbulent times in Iraq, a Gulf country in the midst of a long political, social and economic crisis that recently held elections, which produced poor results for the Shiites, who are linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran, a nation that is singled out by several analysts for interfering in the internal affairs of other states through Shi'ite affinity groups, such as the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Liwa Fatemiyoun in Afghanistan and Hamas in Palestine. In fact, the Green Zone in Baghdad has been the scene of demonstrations in recent weeks organised by groups associated with Tehran, who claim that the last elections were rigged.
The elections were followed by demonstrations and social clashes between the different power groups in Iraq, which have further aggravated the unstable situation in the country, which is suffering from a poor economic situation with little future for a population that has been demonstrating for years over the lack of jobs and basic social services, and also protesting against the alleged corruption in the spheres of power.
Prior to this attack on the presidential residence, there had been deaths in demonstrations organised by groups associated with Iran denouncing irregularities in the last elections, and one of the leaders of these factions, Qais Khazali, vowed to settle accounts with Al-Kazemi.
The attack has been widely condemned internationally, starting with the United States and including Iran. The Islamic Republic described the drone attack on the residence of the acting Iraqi prime minister as an "act of sedition" and blamed "foreign think tanks" or "foreign think tanks that have brought nothing but insecurity, discord and instability to the oppressed Iraqis" for the attack because of their policies in Iraq, as reported by the EFE news agency.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that "this apparent act of terrorism, which we strongly condemn, is aimed at the heart of the Iraqi state".