Two children were injured Tuesday when three Katyusha rockets fell in Around the house of the Iraqi Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi, hours after the Federal Court approved his re-election at the head of this legislative body.
A senior security official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that Katyusha rockets landed in the evening, “500 meters away” from the house of al-Halbousi in the Karma district of Anbar province, west of Baghdad.
The official indicated that the attack targeted the Speaker of Parliament, but said he did not know if Al-Halbousi was at the house at the time.
In a statement, the police announced that two children were injured, and they were taken to Karma Hospital.
reprehensible act of terrorism
For his part, Iraqi President Barham Salih considered that the timing of the attack on the headquarters of the Speaker of Parliament targets national and constitutional benefits, stressing that it is a reprehensible terrorist act.
It is noteworthy that Al-Halbousi, the 41-year-old leader of the Sunni Progress Alliance (37 seats), was re-elected as Speaker of Parliament. He had chaired the previous parliament since 2018.
Attacks targeting multiple parties
In recent days, attacks targeted several parties that could ally with the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr to form a parliamentary coalition in order to agree on a figure to head the government after the legislative elections that were held on the tenth of last October.
Prompted by his possession of the largest number of seats (73 out of 329), al-Sadr reiterated his insistence on forming a “majority government,” which would break with the political tradition of consensus among the major Shiite parties.
It seems that the Sadrist movement is heading for an alliance with Sunni blocs, especially the “Progress” alliance, and prominent Kurds in order to obtain an absolute majority (half plus one of the members of Parliament), to nominate a prime minister.
Al-Halbousi party headquarters blew up
Ten days ago, the headquarters of Al-Halbousi’s party was attacked with explosive devices, injuring two guards, according to Iraqi media and activists on social media.
According to the information, an explosion targeted the headquarters of the “Progress Party” led by Al-Halbousi in the Adhamiya area, in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The house of Iraqi MP Abdul Karim Abtan was also attacked before the MP received threats.