'Massacre' at Camp Ashraf: Iranians call for international help as Iraqi soldiers run down refugees in armoured trucks, killing 25

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:55 PM on 8th April 2011

Iraqi general claims refugees are throwing themselves under military trucks

Video shows armoured vehicles ramming into camp residents

Supports of Iranian dissident group declare a full state of alert as 325 injured

Iranian refugees have called for international help to prevent a massacre at Camp Ashraf after Iraqi forces invaded the compound and killed at least 25 people.

A full state of alert has been declared by the Iranian group after 65 Iraqi vehicles carrying soldiers entered Ashraf late yesterday, with reports that they are running down and shooting the refugees.

Videos have emerged seemingly showing Iraqi troops firing on Iranian refugees and one instance appears to show an Iraqi vehicle ramming a resident and trapping him under its wheels.

See the video below...



Running people down: This still image from a video shows a Camp Ashraf refugee trapped beneath the front wheels of a fast-moving Iraqi military truck as part of the 'massacre'



Muzzle flashes: Visible signs of gunfire accompany the sound of shots in the camp of 3,400 refugees



Pursuit: This U.S.-made Humvee, driven by Iraqi soldiers, chases a resident across the sand in what Iraq said was an attempt to disperse provocation by Iranians armed with stones and shovels

Muzzle flashes of gunshots are also visible as the vehicles chase residents around the compound at speed.

Another six-minute video posted on YouTube that the exiles claim was taken of the offensive, shows Humvees flying the Iraqi flag chasing down around 100 stone-throwing masked people in an open area.

At least one Iraqi soldier was seen firing from his AK-47 machine gun, but his target was not clear. The video also shows at least six people lying on a the ground, and a dozen of blood-soaked men being treated by doctors.

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Camp Ashraf resident Shahriar Kia said the dead include six women and said 325 had been wounded in the violence.

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

'They came inside the camp and attacked people with grenades and tear gas, and then they started to shoot people.



Injured: A bloodied Camp Ashraf resident gives a defiant victory sign after clashes with Iraqi security forces



Resistance stronghold: The gates of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, home to The People's Mujahedeen of Iran, a long-time opponent of the current Iranian regime



Forces assembled: Iraqi security personnel line up outside Camp Ashraf

'When people saw the attack was about to begin, they lined up to defend their homes.'

Neither his claims or the videos could be immediately be verified because access to the camp is restricted.

A hospital in Baqouba has reported three dead and treated 13 wounded, and treated five injured Iraqi soldiers.

However, a memo from the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran called on 'American forces in Iraq and the United Nation to immediately intervene to prevent the killings of Ashraf residents.'

Iraqi Lt. General Ali Ghaidan confirmed a conflict took place overnight at Camp Ashraf but denied anyone was killed and said his men did not use live rounds. He acknowledged that there were people injured but said he did not know how many. Iraqi forces have reported their own casualties.
Ghaidan said his troops were responding to two days of provocation by exiles who, armed with shovels, have been throwing stones at Iraqi guard positions.



He also claimed the refugees had been throwing themselves in front of soldiers' trucks over the last few days.

Aid: A wounded resident is carried to safety after the clashes which took place overnight, but were quelled within a few hours according to the Iraqi military



Resistance: Women fighters of the Mujahedin Khalq stand in their main base at Camp Ashraf

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

'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.'
However, Ashraf residents and their supporters are calling the event a 'massacre'.

The UN mission in Baghdad, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the U.S. military in Iraq all declined immediate comment.

Although relations between Iran and Iraq have improved in recent years, the camp's continued existence has been a source of tension.

The camp is home to a group called The People's Mujahedeen of Iran, which has long been a vocal opponent of the current Iranian regime and of Iraq's Shiite-led government.



Demonstrations: The continued existence of Ashraf has been a major source of contention since it was handed by the U.S. over to Iraqi control in 2009 - several conflicts have occurred at the camp since

Iran is a close Shiite ally of Baghdad and has been pressing for the expulsion of the group, which seeks the overthrow of Tehran's clerical rulers.

The Iraqi government also wants to close the camp and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has long sought to expel the refugees because of its past ties to former Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

Closing the camp is a move the residents strongly oppose because they fear being sent back to the hard-line Iranian regime they oppose.

Iraq's failure to close the camp is an irritant to Iran. Iran considers Camp Ashraf's residents to be a terrorist group, a view backed by the U.S. One of the videos circulating on the internet appears to show military bulldozers approaching the camp.

However, the situation is complicated by the fact that Europe does not consider the group a terrorist organisation.

The camp, 120 kilometers west of the Iranian border and 60 kilometers north of Baghdad, was previously under U.S. but was handed over to Iraqi hands in January 2009.

There have since been several attacks on the camp reported, the most recent being in October 2010. In July 2009, similar clashes left 12 residents dead.

Video: Iraqi Forces of al-Maliki Use US-made Humvees to Kill Residents of Camp Ashraf, 4/8/2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCRgWZi7 ... r_embedded

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