Authorities said a new operations command will establish a base at Camp Ashraf, after the last Mujahedeen al-Khalq residents have transferred to Camp Liberty in Baghdad. The Tigris Operations Command will employ Interior Ministry forces from Diyala and Kirkuk provinces. Critics, particularly Kurds, have already noted that the controversial command is unnecessary and called it a further attempt on the part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to undermine Kurdish power in the region. The last Iranian exiles to leave the camp claimed they were harassed and subject to unnecessary security screening before the move.
Meanwhile, at least five Iraqis were killed and 23 more were wounded in new attacks.
A car bomb exploded at a funeral procession in al-Hamza, killing three people and wounding at least 13 more.
In Mosul, one policeman was killed and another was wounded in clashes with gunmen.
Gunmen killed a truck driver in Nasariya.
In Baghdad, a pair of bombs wounded five policemen in Amiriya.
Four bodyguards were wounded during a blast targeting a brigadier in the Thar Thar region.
A kidnapping victim was freed in Najaf.
