A rocket attack that targeted the house of Iraq’s parliament speaker on Tuesday night drew widespread anger and condemnation across Iraq.
The attack took place in Mohammed al-Halbousi’s native district of Karma, sometimes spelled Garma or al-Karmah, which is in the eastern part of Anbar province and is less than 50 kilometers west of Baghdad.
Moreover, five rockets ready to be fired at the Karma district have been seized, the intelligence agency said.
“After yesterday’s terrorist incident in the targeting of Karma district, and through follow-up and inspection, the federal intelligence and investigation agency detachments in the Interior Ministry were able to seize five rockets prepared to fire at the district itself,” said a statement from the security media cell on Wednesday.
“The rockets were seized in the Area of the Tigris Arm,” it said, adding that “the competent security services have begun to deal with them in accordance with the procedures.”
Iraqi President Barham Salih called the rocket attack on the speaker’s home a “terrorist act.”
“The attack on the residence of the Speaker of Parliament in Anbar, which resulted in the injury of civilians, is a reprehensible terrorist act,” Salih tweeted.
On Tuesday evening, the Iraqi army said that two civilians were injured as three Katyusha rockets targeted Anbar province’s al-Karma region, where al-Halbousi’s residence is located. A security source said that the rockets landed in the area adjacent to the home of al-Halbousi.
The president considered that “the timing of the attack targets national and constitutional entitlements,” calling for “unity and solidarity to protect civil peace.”
The rocket attack took place a few hours after the Federal Supreme Court issued a decision that approved the parliament session held on Jan. 9, in which al-Halbousi was elected speaker of parliament for a second term.
