Iraqi prime minister survives assassination bid with drones
Baghdad (AP): Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt with armed drones that targeted his residence early Sunday and officials said he was unharmed.
The attack was a major escalation amid tensions sparked by the refusal of Iran-backed militias to accept last month's parliamentary election results.
Two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press that seven of al-Kadhimi's security guards were injured in the attack with two armed drones which occurred in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone area.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements.
"I am fine and among my people. Thank God," the prime minister tweeted shortly after the attack. He called for calm and restraint, for the sake of Iraq.
He later appeared on Iraqi television, seated behind a desk in a white shirt, looking calm and composed. Cowardly rocket and drone attacks don't build homelands and don't build a future, he said.
In a statement, the government said an explosives-laden drone tried to hit al-Kadhimi's home.
Residents of Baghdad heard the sound of an explosion followed by heavy gunfire from the direction of the Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and government offices.
The statement released by state-run media said security forces were taking the necessary measures in connection with this failed attempt.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Will fight those who installed 'fake' Parashurama statue: Karkala Congress leader
Karkala: Town Municipality member and Congress spokesperson Shubhada Rao has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of duping citizens by installing a fibre glass statue of warrior-sage Parashurama at the new theme park in Karkala despite claiming that a bronze statue would be installed there.
Addressing a meeting held at the Bailuru Marigudi Hall on Saturday by the Karkala Parashurama Theme Park Welfare Committee demanding the installation of a bronze statue of the sage at the new park on the Umikal hills at Bailuru town, Rao clarified that the Congress had never opposed the development of the theme park or the installation of a statue of Parashurama at the park, but had expressed dissatisfaction at the BJP replacing the bronze statue meant to be used at the park with a fibre glass statue. He added that Congress aimed to unveil the truth regarding the statue.
Calling Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar's claims about the support of 65 legislators to him whom he could bring to the Parashurama hill as a bluff, Rao said that he would meet the legislator in Bengaluru itself with documentary proof to show that the statue was 'fake'. He also challenged Sunil Kumar to face the truth about the theme park.
A video containing information on the theme park, the statue, the correspondence between the government and the district administration as well as the gram panchayat, in addition to the court order was presented at the meeting.
