CounterVortex

Some 15 rockets hit the outskirts of Camp Liberty (Camp Hurriya) near Baghdad's airport, home to exiled followers of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI, also rendered Mujahedin-e-Khalq or MEK), killing 23. (Reuters, Rudaw, Oct. 30) The rockets were fired from the Bakriya district, six kilometers northeast of the airport. In Paris, the MEK's civilian leadership, the National Council of Rsistance of Iran (NCRI), issued a statement noting three previous attacks on the camp, leading to the death of 14 residents, adding: "We were promised proper investigation in all those attacks but the UN and the U.S. government have failed to live up to their promises. And when the perpetrators of such heinous acts were not held responsible, further attacks were certain to happen." NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi charged: "The Iranian regime's agents in the government of Iraq are responsible for this attack and the United States and the United Nations are well aware of this fact."

The US State Department issued a statement condemning the attack, but pointedly did not use the MEK's designated name for the camp: "The United States strongly condemns today’s brutal, senseless terrorist attack on Camp Hurriya that killed and injured camp residents. Our condolences go out to the families of the victims, and we hope for the swift recovery of those injured." The statement's only mention of the MEK was to say: "The Department, through its Senior Advisor for MEK Resettlement, will remain actively engaged in the international effort to relocate the residents of Camp Hurriya to safe, permanent locations as soon as possible."