Iraqi officials: Prime minister survives assassination bid

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government says Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has survived an assassination attempt with an armed drone and is unharmed. In a statement released Sunday, the government said the drone tried to hit al-Kadhimi’s home in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone area. Residents of Baghdad heard the sound of an explosion followed by gunfire from the direction of the capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and government offices. The security statement released by state-run media said the failed assassination attempt was with “an explosives-laden drone that tried to target his residence in the Green Zone.”