Pope Francis has revealed that he was the target of a double assassination attempt during his visit to Baghdad in March 2021.
According to Reuters, in an excerpt published on Tuesday ahead of the release of his autobiography, the pope noted that he was told by police after his plane landed in Baghdad in March 2021 that at least two suicide bombers had targeted him.
"A woman strapped to explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit," the Pope wrote, according to an excerpt from the book published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
"And a van was also set out for the same purpose," it reads.
Pope Francis' visit to Mosul was seen as a highlight of his trip to Iraq, as the country's second-largest city was under Islamic State control from 2014 to 2017. The pope visited the ruins of four churches there and called for peace.
In the excerpt published on Tuesday, the Holy Father said that the Vatican had been informed by British intelligence about the assassination. In fact, as he admits in the book, he had asked a security official the next day what had happened to the would-be assassins.
" The commander replied laconically: 'They no longer exist' ". The new autobiography of Pope Francis entitled "Hope" is expected to be published on January 14. (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
