Rockets near Baghdad airport kill soldiers, Iranian refugees

An Iranian self-exiled opposition group based at Iraq’s global airport has been targeted in a rocket attack that killed at least 23 of its members. Iraqi officials at least three of the dead and 16 of the wounded were Iraqi soldiers.

The group has not fared as well since the US-led overthrow of Hussein in 2003, as the new government has become increasingly hostile in the wake of strengthened ties with Iran. Last year, the Islamic State group was said to have fired rockets near to Baghdad worldwide Airport as it attempted to destabilise the capital.

A number of other PMOI (MEK) members martyred in the rocket attack on Camp Liberty are Abutaleb Hashemi, Hamid Dehqan, Kiomars Yousefi, and Hossein Gandomi.

USA top diplomat John Kerry condemned an attack on a base that houses exiled Iranian opposition members on the outskirts of Baghdad, calling Thursday for the global community to help relocate its residents. “The power of explosions were so severe that numerous trailers were totally destroyed and burned”, MEK said in a statement.

Kerry also called on Iraqi officials to find those responsible for the attack and hold them accountable.

The MEK, officially known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said that “more than 80 Katyusha and Falagh missiles were used in these attacks”.

He says the rockets landed far enough from the airport that they did not disrupt commercial traffic.

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

The United States remains committed to assisting the UN in the relocation of all Camp Hurriya residents “to a permanent and safe location outside of Iraq”, according to the statement.