Iranian exiles hit by deadly rocket fire in Iraq

About 26 people have died after a former Iraqi military base, housing exiled Iranian opposition members, came under intense rocket fire.

Three Iraqi soldiers guarding the camp were also killed and at least 16 others wounded during the rocket attack, according to Iraqi police.

At least 23 members of the Iranian Resistance group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), are thought to have been killed by the blasts.

Iran is widely believed to have been behind a deadly rocket attack yesterday evening on Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq.

He accused the Iraqi army of being complicit in the attacks, as the camp is said to be completely surrounded by government troops.

A spokesman for the Mujahedin said the attack was the worst to have targeted the camp so far.

A year ago Islamic State militants fired rockets near the worldwide airport as it sought to destabilise the capital.

“The United States strongly condemns today’s brutal, senseless terrorist attack on Camp Hurriya that killed and injured camp residents”, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, using the camp’s Arabic name. The section occupied by the MEK more closely resembles a prison than a proper camp with the movements of camp residents being heavily restricted and monitored.

Ties between the Shiite Muslim country of Iran and the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq have been picked up considerably since the ouster of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime in a U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Camp Liberty, which is home to roughly 2,400 Iranian dissidents, was hit by a barrage of missiles at 7:40PM (local time).

Under pressure from Washington, Baghdad agreed to relocate over 3,000 MEK members from Ashraf camp in Diyala province to Liberty Camp in 2012 as the U.S. government removed the MEK from its list of terrorist organizations the same year. The Iraqi military said about 15 rockets were used. The United Nations also condemned the attack.

This is a most deplorable act, and I am greatly concerned at the harm that has been inflicted on those living at Camp Liberty, ” said High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

Camp Liberty residents once lived in Camp Ashraf, which the MEK developed into “Ashraf City”.

He said the U.S. remained committed to helping relocate all residents of the camp to a safe location outside of Iraq.