Iraqi forces clash with Iranian exiles in camp

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BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces clashed with residents of an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad overnight, the Iraqi government said on Friday, and an Iranian opposition group said residents were attacked and killed.
The government spokesman said five members of the Iraqi security forces were wounded in the incident at Camp Ashraf. Representatives of the camp called the incident a “criminal attack” and said 25 residents were killed and 320 wounded. An Iraqi medical source at nearby Baquba hospital said they had received the bodies of three Iranians, while 16 Iranians, five Iraqi soldiers and one Iraqi policemen were brought to the hospital with injuries.
The source requested anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the media. The 25-year-old camp, home to some 3,500 people, is the base of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), a guerrilla group that opposes Iran’s Shi’ite cleric leaders. Iran, Iraq and the US consider the PMOI a terrorist organisation.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Ashraf residents threw rocks at security forces in what he called a “riot”. Troops had not opened fire, he said, contrary to reports by camp residents. “The security forces have pushed back residents of Camp Ashraf inside the camp by force,” Dabbagh said. “The situation is now controlled.” “I do not have any information about any deaths or injuries among the residents of the camp,” he said.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI’s political wing, said Iraqi security forces had been ordered by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to attack the camp, in restive Diyala province about 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad in a remote location largely inaccessible to journalists.