An assassination attempt on Pope Francis while on a trip to Iraq was foiled following a UK intelligence tip-off, according to the pontiff’s forthcoming autobiography.

The Pope writes that after landing in Baghdad in March 2021, he was informed that suicide bombers were planning to kill him at an event where he was to speak.

Both attackers were later arrested and killed, according to episodes published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

In excerpts from his autobiography, Pope Francis said that almost everyone advised him to cancel this visit, but he felt that he must go.

The pontiff said this plot was uncovered by UK intelligence, which alerted the Iraqi police, who in turn alerted his bodyguard upon landing.

"The young woman with explosives wrapped around her, the suicide bomber, was going to Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit," Pope Francis wrote.

The three-day visit, which took place during the coronavirus pandemic, was the Pope's first visit to Iraq and was accompanied by intensive security operations.