Iran dissidents 'killed in Iraq missile attack'

A rocket attack has killed three members of an Iranian opposition group in Iraq, the group and its parent organisation say.

They say a number of people from the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) group were injured at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Baghdad has in the past repeatedly denied attacking the group.

MEK members fought with Iraq against Iran in the 1980s, but have since fallen out with the current Iraqi government.

In an emailed message, the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the MEK's parent group, said dozens of missiles hit the camp on Thursday evening.

It said two residents were killed and a third later died in hospital of his wounds.

The US condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and urged Iraq to better protect the camp.

An Iranian-backed Shia militia, al-Mukhtar Army, said it had fired rockets at the camp, Reuters news agency reported.

The camp is located in a former US military base, near Baghdad's airport.

The Iraqi authorities have made no public comments on the report. However, one security official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying four rockets hit the camp, injuring two people.

In September, the MEK accused Iraqi forces of attacking Camp Ashraf north-east of Baghdad and killing 52 of the group's members.

In recent years, Baghdad has been trying to dismantle MEK camps and eject the group.

Iran considers the MEK a terrorist group.

The group was removed from the US state department's list of terrorist organisations last year.

BBC