Shi'ite Muslim militia claims responsibility for deadly rocket attack

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Shi'ite Muslim militia in Iraq claimed responsibility on Friday, October 30 for a deadly rocket attack on an exiled Iranian opposition group housed near Baghdad, Reuters reports citing Iran's Fars news agency.

At least 15 rockets crashed in and around the camp of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) next to Baghdad International Airport on Thursday, killing 23 members, a Paris-based spokesman said.

"We warned the members of this terrorist organization to leave Iraq as soon as possible ... If they don't do so, there will be more similar attacks," al-Mukhtar Army commander Wathiq al-Battat was quoted as saying by Fars.

Al-Mukhtar Army has said it receives funding from Tehran. Fars news agency is close to Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Shahin Gobadi, the PMOI spokesman, accused "agents of the clerical (Iranian) regime inside the government of Iraq" of launching the attack and also placed responsibility on the Iraqi government and the United Nations.

The United States urged Baghdad to increase security at so-called Camp Liberty and to hold accountable those responsible for the attack. The United Nations also condemned the attack, Reuters says.

Videos posted online by PMOI's political umbrella appeared to show Thursday's attack and aftermath. In one clip, the whizzing of rockets can be heard followed by images of explosions and burning buildings.

Footage posted on Friday showed burnt out and collapsed trailers, with debris scattered across the muddy ground.