Iraq violence: Iranian exiles hit by intense rocket fire

The People's Mujahedin of Iran says 23 of its members were killed in the attack in addition to three policemen.

About 80 missiles struck the former US base known as Camp Liberty, close to Baghdad airport, according to the PMOI.

No group has yet said it carried out the attack.

The People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) has been in exile since the Islamic revolution of 1979.

The Camp Liberty base came under rocket fire in December 2013 and in February 2013.

A statement released by the group said that "due to darkness of the night, the exact number of dead and wounded has not been established". The 23 reported deaths have not been independently verified.

US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed in a statement that residents of the camp were killed and injured, but he did not specify how many.

He said the US government was talking to senior Iraqi officials to ensure that "all possible medical and emergency assistance" is provided to the victims.

Police quoted by the Reuters news agency say that six Katyusha rockets landed inside the perimeter of the airport without causing damage, while six others landed on the base inside Camp Liberty, a former US military base.

Sources said that the rockets were fired from an area west of the airport.

Iraqi state television said that air traffic had not been seriously interrupted.

The PMOI sided with Saddam Hussein during Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s but fell out with Baghdad after the Iraqi leader was overthrown by a US-led invasion in 2003.

The remaining Iranian dissidents, who advocate the removal of Iran's clerical leaders, were moved to Camp Liberty in 2012.

They have blamed Iran for instigating the attack and have called for the US and the UN to launch an inquiry.

Last year Islamic State militants fired rockets near the international airport as it sought to destabilise the capital.

Mr Kerry condemned the latest attack in a statement on Thursday night.

"We are consulting with the government of Iraq to ascertain the full extent of this unprovoked attack," he said.

He said the US remains committed to assisting the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the relocation of all residents of the camp to a permanent and safe location outside of Iraq.

(BBC)