US condemns rockets attack on Camp Hurriya in Iraq

The US strongly condemned Thursday the rocket attack at Camp Hurriya in Iraq, calling for additional measures to secure the camp against further violence. State Department Spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said in a statement "the United States condemns in the strongest terms today's rocket attack at Camp Hurriya" that has reportedly killed and injured camp residents and also injured Iraqi police officers. She stressed that "we continue to call on the GOI (Government of Iraq) to take additional measures to secure the camp against further violence, including by immediately installing additional protective barriers, such as bunkers and t-walls." "We also call on the GOI to continue to honor its obligations under its December 25, 2011 agreement with the UN and urge the Iraqi Government to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable for the attack," she added. She affirmed that the US "is committed to assisting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the relocation of all Camp Hurriya residents to a permanent and safe location outside of Iraq." She noted "we call on more countries to assist in responding to this urgent humanitarian situation by welcoming camp residents for relocation, as Albania has admirably done over this past year, and by contributing to the fund established by the United Nations to support their resettlement." "The Department, through its Senior Advisor for MEK Resettlement, Jonathan Winer, will remain actively engaged in the international effort to relocate the residents of Camp Hurriya to safe, permanent, and secure locations outside of Iraq as soon as possible," she remarked.