Written by Staff Writer
An assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi failed early Saturday morning.
Videos and pictures on social media appear to show Abadi greeting people in Baghdad, when suddenly several men appear from behind and attempt to shoot him, but miss.
Abadi managed to escape the area unhurt.
Read the latest from the Middle East on CNN.
Abadi issued a statement on Twitter thanking security forces for “their efforts to protect his life and those of the country’s citizens”.
In recent months, militants have recaptured nearly all of Iraq’s Fallujah city, in west Anbar province, and attacked the capital of the Shiite Muslim-majority country, Baghdad.
Scores of people have been killed in Iraq in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, a bombing in a predominantly Shiite district of the capital killed 51 people. A suicide bomber also targeted a group of worshippers in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on June 14, killing more than 200 people.