Rockets Hit Camp Hurriya – Home to MEK Exiles

Three Dead, More than 50 Injured

The director of Iraq’s civil aviation administration reported that three rockets landed today at Camp Hurriya (Liberty), near Baghdad international airport, and home to some 3,000 members of an Iranian militant group in exile, Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK). Three MEK members were killed and more than 50 injured.

Last September, an armed group, believed to be under the direction of the Quds Force, IRGC’s special forces in charge of Iran’s extraterritorial activities, massacred more than 50 unarmed MEK members living in Camp Ashraf, near the Iranian border. Seven members of MEK were also abducted from the camp and it is feared they were taken to Iran. 

The National Council of Resistance, the umbrella non-military arm of MEK, said today that “dozens of missiles” landed at their camp. (AFP, 27 December)

In Washington, a State Department spokesperson condemned the attack and called on the Iraqi government to ensure security for the residents of Camp Hurriya.

UPDATE: An armed Shia militant group calling themselves “Al-Mukhtar Army” has taken responsibility for the rocket attack on Camp Hurriya.

File photo: Camp Hurriya, Baghdad (UN) 

UN Condemns Attack on Iranian Exile Camp

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the mortar attack on Iranian exile camp outside Baghdad.

UN News Center stated that the camp was attacked early in the morning today while most of the residents were sleeping. Six persons were killed and scores wounded. The camp serves as a transit facility for more than 3,000 exiles, most of them MEK members, where a process to determine their refugee status is being carried out by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Iraq, which is responsible for the safety and security of residents of both Camp Liberty and Camp Ashraf, to promptly and fully investigate the incident and bring perpetrators to justice,” said Mr. Ban's spokesperson in a statement. “He has repeatedly stated that violence and provocation are unacceptable.” (UN News Center, 9 February)

The High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, expressed his shock about the attack calling it “a despicable act of violence.”

“I call on the Iraqi Government to do everything it can to guarantee security to the residents,” he said. “The perpetrators must be found and brought to justice without delay.”

In a news release, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said it is closely liaising with the Government on the response to the incident, including medical assistance to the wounded.

Mr. Ban's Special Representative in the country, Martin Kobler, has also asked Iraqi authorities to promptly conduct an investigation into the mortar explosions.

Photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)

6 Dead in Attack on Iran Opposition Group MEK

Assailants fired rockets and mortar rounds at the refugee camp outside Baghdad housing members of Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK or MKO), killing at least six people and injuring more than 100 people, several of them critically. Camp spokesman Shahin Gobadi released photographs of five bloodied bodies swaddled in blankets, including one of a woman. (AP, 9 February)

The camp, a former American military base known as Camp Liberty, is home to some 3,100 members of the militant Iranian organization. The group’s political umbrella group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is based in Paris. The Obama administration took the MEK off the U.S. terrorism list in late September.

Iraqi police said assailants fired rockets, while UN officials who supervise the camp said it was hit by mortar rounds.

NCRI President Maryam Rajavi called on UN High Commission for Refugees to immediately declare the refugee status of the residents of Camp Liberty in order to protect their lives and well being.

File photo: Camp Liberty outside Baghdad (AP)