Destabilising influence? The challenges posed by Iraq’s Shia militias
Twenty-three members of Iranian anti-government militant group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), which has been based in Iraq since the 1980s, were reportedly killed on 29 October when at least 15 rockets were fired into Camp Hurriya (or Camp Liberty, the former United States military base) outside Iraq's Baghdad International Airport. A further 30 members of the group […]Will Hartley writes for IHS Jane's 360:
Twenty-three members of Iranian anti-government militant group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), which has been based in Iraq since the 1980s, were reportedly killed on 29 October when at least 15 rockets were fired into Camp Hurriya (or Camp Liberty, the former United States military base) outside Iraq's Baghdad International Airport. A further 30 members of the group were reported wounded, while two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 18 wounded in the barrage at the camp, where around 2,200 MEK cadres and their dependents are currently cantoned.
The attack was claimed the following day by Jaish al-Mukhtar, a Shia Muslim militia that claims it is backed by Iran and which has carried out previous attacks targeting MEK. "We warned the members of this terrorist organisation [MEK] to leave Iraq as soon as possible... If they don't do so, there will be more similar attacks," the group's leader, Wathiq al-Battat, told Iran's Fars News Agency on 30 October.
