Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi escaped unscathed from an “assassination attempt” on the night of Saturday to Sunday by means of a trapped drone which targeted his residence in Baghdad, a further escalation in the crisis that is going through Iraq.
Several countries, including the United States and Iran, condemned the attack and Iraqi President Barham Saleh denounced an “attempt to overthrow the constitutional order”.
This attack, which was not immediately claimed, is the first to target the residence of Mr. Kazimi, in power since May 2020.
It comes nearly a month after the October 10 legislative elections which saw the Conquest Alliance, the political showcase of Hachd al-Chaabi, an influential coalition of former pro-Iran paramilitaries, lose many seats, according to the results. preliminary.
This formation denounces an electoral “fraud” and certain supporters of Hachd accuse Mr. Kazimi of being “accomplice” to it.
On Twitter, Mustafa al-Kazimi called for “calm and restraint on the part of all for the good of Iraq”.
“Conspiracy”
“My residence was the target of cowardly assault. Praise be to God I’m fine, ”he then said in a video where he is seen sitting at a desk.
According to his services, this “failed assassination attempt” was carried out by means of “a trapped drone”.
Two security sources reported “three drones” launched from an area located just over a kilometer as the crow flies from the residence. “Two drones were shot down” by Moustafa al-Kazimi’s close guard and the third was able to detonate his charge.
Another security source told AFP that two of the prime minister’s bodyguards were injured.
The Green Zone in which the residence is located is an ultra-protected perimeter that houses the American Embassy and government buildings.
In photos distributed by the services of Mr. Kazimi, one could see rubble on the ground and damaged exterior stairs.
The influential Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, whose current led the elections, spoke of an attack “against Iraq and the Iraqi people”.
Qaïs al-Khazali, the leader of Assaïb Ahl al-Haq, one of the main pro-Iran groups of Hachd al-Chaabi, demanded that the perpetrators of the attack be “brought to justice”.
Abroad, several countries have also condemned it. Washington denounced an “apparent act of terrorism”, saying it offered to help in the investigation. France denounced “with the greatest firmness” the attack, saying it rejects “any form of destabilization of the country, violence and intimidation”.
Iran for its part called for “vigilance to thwart plots aimed at security” in Iraq, in a clear allusion to the United States, to the more than tense relations with Tehran.
The Arab League, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, the Emirates, and neighbors Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have also condemned the attack, as has the UN mission in Iraq.
Election rout
Security forces have been deployed in large numbers in and around the Green Zone, according to an AFP journalist.
Attacks against this sector are recurrent and have often targeted the US Embassy in the past. Those carried out with the trapped drone have multiplied in recent months, especially against American interests in Iraq.
This latest development comes at a time when Iraq is shaken by strong political tensions linked to the October 10 elections, the final results of which should be published within a few weeks.
Meanwhile, supporters of Hachd al-Chaabi are watching sit-ins at two entrances to the Green Zone to protest the preliminary results.
And clashes on Friday pitted several hundred of them with the security forces near the Green Zone. According to a security source, a protester was killed, while a source within Hachd al-Chaabi spoke of “two dead”.
Some Iraqis accuse the Hachd, which fought the jihadist group Islamic State and which is now part of the Iraqi state, of being Iran’s relay in their country. They attribute to him the responsibility for the assassinations and kidnappings of anti-power activists who rose up in October 2019.
Despite its electoral rout, this coalition should remain an important political force in Parliament, thanks to the game of alliances and the co-optation of independent elected representatives.