Deadly Clashes at Iran Opposition Camp in Iraq
At least three people were killed Friday when Iraqi forces clashed with an Iranian opposition group, a security official said, but the rebels claimed 25 of its members died in a full military assault.
Major Hassan al-Tamimi of the Iraqi army in Baquba, capital of central Diyala province, said the armed forces clashed with stone-hurling crowds at the Camp Ashraf base of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, or PMOI.
"The clashes started at around 4:40 am (0140 GMT) as the army was taking positions inside a cemetery in Ashraf," Tamimi said. "Three people were killed and 20 wounded, among them six soldiers."
The People's Mujahedeen of Iran said at least 25 of its members were killed and 325 wounded in a full-fledged military assault on its base about 80 kilometers north of Baghdad.
Video footage sent by the rebel group to AFP showed soldiers in riot gear rushing on foot and in vehicles into the camp, and some wounded Mujahedeen members being carried away.
A source at Baquba's main hospital confirmed three dead bodies had been received and 20 wounded, including six from the Iraqi security forces.
The PMOI has about 3,500 members housed at Camp Ashraf.
A left-wing and Islamic movement, it was founded in 1965 in opposition to the shah of Iran and has subsequently fought to oust the clerical regime that took power in Tehran after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
The group set up Camp Ashraf in the 1980s -- when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime was at war with the Islamic republic -- as a base to operate against Tehran. It was disarmed following the US-led invasion of 2003.
Source: Agence France Presse
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