Iran Focus
London, 5 Jul – Following a sustained rocket attack on members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK) in Camp Liberty in the Iraqi capital in the late hours of 4 July, the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF) issued an urgent call for international protection for the camp, home to Iran’s democratic opposition.
After Monday night’s bombardment, the fifth attack on Camp Liberty in four years, the co-chair of the British MPs group, Sir David Amess MP, said, “This rocket attack is a stark reminder of the threat against these defenceless refugees and make the case of an immediate international intervention to provide them with safety and security. The impunity for those responsible for today’s and previous deadly attacks on Camp Liberty must end and the international community must bring them to justice.”
Militias affiliated with the Iranian regime, fired more than 50 rockets at Camp Liberty, located near Baghdad’s International Airport, setting large parts of the camp ablaze. Reports suggest that a number of rockets struck an area outside the camp.
A number of camp residents were injured, but, there are no reports of any fatalities.
The rocket attack, at 20.35 local time, comes on the eighth day of a blockade of Camp Liberty by Iraqi security forces. Soldiers have prevented fuel, food and medicine from reaching the camp. The blockade continues.
The attack tonight was conducted by Iraqi forces co-operating closely with the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The notorious Quds Force conducts terrorism on behalf of the Iranian regime, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement on Monday.
The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, in two statements last year, warned of new efforts by Tehran to use its proxies in Iraq to attack Camp Liberty in an effort to eliminate its opposition. The statements called on the UK government to take urgent actions with the EU, the U.S. and at the UN Security Council to secure adequate protection for these defenceless refugees.
Sir David Amess MP said on Monday that the BPCIF was reiterating its earlier calls on the UK government to act in cooperation with its international partners, in particular the U.S., to ensure the camp residents are kept safe, both from attack and from the deprivation of the necessities of life, until such time they all leave Iraq for third countries.
Earlier statements by the BPCIF on Camp Liberty:
Press Release, 9 November 2015, MPs urge Security Council to protect Camp Liberty: http://www.iran-freedom.org/bpcif-statements/481-press-release-mps-urge-security-council-to-protectcamp-liberty
Press Release, 08 September 2015, Statement on Tehran’s ominous campaign against Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty: http://www.iran-freedom.org/bpcif-statements/470-statement-on-tehran-s-ominous-campaign-againstiranian-refugees-in-camp-liberty
