Rockets fired at Iraq refugee camp, 6 killed

Assailants fired rockets and mortar rounds at a refugee camp for Iranian exiles outside Baghdad Saturday, killing six people and wounding dozens, police and a camp spokesman said.

Nearly three dozen rockets and mortar shells struck the camp, home to some 3,100 people, before daybreak, said camp spokesman Shahriar Kia. He said more than 100 were wounded, several seriously. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It was the first reported deadly attack against the camp. The facility houses members of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq or MEK, the militant wing of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran. Iraq's Shia-led, pro-Iranian government considers the MEK a terrorist group and is eager to have it out of the country.

The refugee camp is located in a former American military base known as Camp Liberty, adjacent to Baghdad's international airport. They are unlikely to return to Iran because of their opposition to the regime.

Two police officials confirmed six people were killed in Saturday's attack and said more than 40 were hurt, including three Iraqi policemen.

Kia said Iraqi authorities refused to let the wounded be taken to area hospitals. Iraqi government officials were not immediately available for comment.

UN envoy in Iraq Martin Kobler said he asked authorities to ensure medical care for the wounded.

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