'Massacre' at Camp Ashraf: Iranians call for international help as Iraqi soldiers run down refugees in armoured trucks, killing 25

Daily Mail 04/08/2011 19:28

Running people down: This still image from a video shows a Camp Ashraf refugee trapped beneath the front wheels of a fast-moving Iraqi military truck as part of the 'massacre'

Iranian refugees have called for international help to prevent a massacre at Camp Ashraf after Iraqi forces invaded the compound and killed at least 25 people. A full state of alert has been declared by the Iranian group after 65 Iraqi vehicles carrying soldiers entered Ashraf late yesterday, with reports that they are running down and shooting the refugees.

Videos have emerged seemingly showing Iraqi troops firing on Iranian refugees and one instance appears to show an Iraqi vehicle ramming a resident and trapping him under its wheels.

Muzzle flashes of gunshots are also visible as the vehicles chase residents around the compound at speed.

Another six-minute video posted on YouTube that the exiles claim was taken of the offensive, shows Humvees flying the Iraqi flag chasing down around 100 stone-throwing masked people in an open area.

At least one Iraqi soldier was seen firing from his AK-47 machine gun, but his target was not clear. The video also shows at least six people lying on a the ground, and a dozen of blood-soaked men being treated by doctors.

Camp Ashraf resident Shahriar Kia said the dead include six women and said 325 had been wounded in the violence.

Behzad Saffari, who has lived at Ashraf for nine years and acts as the camp's legal adviser, said: 'This is a massacre, a catastrophe.

'They came inside the camp and attacked people with grenades and tear gas, and then they started to shoot people.