Clashes as Iran exiles claim dozens killed in Iraq raid

Clashes and explosions were reported in a camp housing Iranian exiles today, with the group claiming Iraqi troops killed more than 50 of their members, charges officials steadfastly denied.
Officials and the group offered wildly different accounts of the unrest, though, none of which could be independently confirmed by AFP, and the United Nations said it was trying to establish what took place.
In addition to the casualties, the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), about 100 of whose members are living at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province near the Iranian border, also claimed security forces set fire to the group's property in the camp, all of which was denied by Iraqi officials.

Local hospitals reported three Iraqi soldiers were killed and four were wounded, which officials attributed to angry camp residents attacking an army brigade responsible for the camp.
Medics did not, however, report any casualties among Ashraf residents.
The United Nations did not confirm any of the varying accounts of today's unrest, but the UN refugee agency said "it appears that deadly force has been used and that a number of people have been killed or wounded".

The UNHCR said it "strongly condemns this attack," adding that "the use of violence against a civilian population is unacceptable in any circumstances."
The UN's mission to Iraq said it was looking into the unrest, and called on the Iraqi government to investigate the incident.

Earlier this year, at least eight people were killed in two mortar attacks on another camp housing the group, which is also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).
Officials and MEK spokespeople gave totally different accounts of the latest unrest and it was not immediately clear what caused the explosions and clashes, or the extent of the casualties.
Iraqi police and medical sources said five mortars hit the camp.
A police colonel said that in the aftermath of the rockets "some angry Ashraf residents came out and attacked the brigade protecting the camp," killing three soldiers and wounding four in clashes.

A doctor at the main hospital in the provincial capital Baquba confirmed the toll.