Iraqi forces storm settlement of Iranian exiles

Both sides reported casualties in the latest round of clashes at the camp that has become a point of contention between the Iraqi government and some of its fiercest opponents.

The exiles said as many as 28 residents at Camp Ashraf in Iraq's northeastern Diyala province were killed; top Iraqi government officials vehemently denied any fatalities.
A hospital official in Baqouba, Diyala's capital, reported three people were killed and 13 wounded in the pre-dawn offensive at Camp Ashraf, the base of the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said five Iraqi soldiers also were injured.

Camp Ashraf and the Iranian exile group have long been a source of tension to Iraq's Shiite-led government. Al-Maliki has sought to remove the group, because of its past ties to former Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. Iran, a close Shiite ally of Baghdad, has also been pressing for the expulsion of the group, which seeks the overthrow of Tehran's clerical rulers.

In an interview Friday, Iraqi Lt. Gen. Ali Ghaidan said he ordered the incursion to curb two days of exiles hurling stones at troops and throwing themselves in front of soldiers' trucks. He said the uprising began after Iraqi troops starting out units that are stationed nearby.

Ghaidan and government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied anyone was killed, and said the situation has calmed after only a few hours.

"One hundred members of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran attacked our security and military forces," al-Dabbagh said.

"Our forces did not use weapons. The situation is calm now. Our forces are trying to redeploy themselves inside and outside the camp. The Iraqi government is warning of violating the Iraqi laws in that area."

Camp residents painted a far more dire picture of the scene, and supplied video purportedly taken early Friday that showed gunfire and military bulldozers approaching the camp.

Resident Shahriar Kia said 28 exiles have been killed, including six women, and at least 325 wounded in the violence. His claim could not be immediately confirmed because access to the camp is restricted.

"This is a massacre, a catastrophe," said Behzad Saffari, who has lived at Ashraf for nine years and acts as the camp's legal adviser.