International human rights groups are growing increasingly concerned for the safety of about 3,500 Iranian dissidents in Iraq, where government security forces reportedly have blockaded their camp and prevented food and supplies from entering for days. At least eight of the camp's residents have died and many more were injured in a July 28 raid by Iraqi forces. Thirty-six residents remain in Iraqi custody and the camp's leadership says the detainees have been denied access to attorneys.

The Mujahedin_e Khalq -- known in various circles as the MEK, MKO or PMOI -- is an Iranian militant group that's committed to the overthrow of the theocratic regime in Tehran. In 1986, the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the MEK to set up base about 65 miles north of Baghdad, in a sprawling compound that became known as Camp Ashraf. The group was disarmed following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the residents there lived in limbo under U.S. protection from the hostile new Iranian-backed Iraqi government. Iraqi Shiite Muslim leaders, many of whom lived for years in Iran, have been eager to return the dissidents to Tehran, where they could face torture or execution.

The MEK's tactics have earned the group a spot on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Some U.S. politicians have lobbied to remove them from the list and recruit them for intelligence-gathering on Iran. There are reports that the group already has provided the U.S. government with information on Iran's nuclear program.

I spent two days at Camp Ashraf in 2005, and wrote this story about life inside the compound. I also interviewed MEK defectors, who describe the group has a cult, as they took the risky opportunity to leave Ashraf for repatriation in Iran under an amnesty deal with the Iranian government. My colleague Leila Fadel visited the camp more recently, in December 2008, and filed this story.

With bleak prospects in Iran and Iraq, the group had hoped to find a third country willing to resettle MEK members en masse. But no offers came, and the group found itself stranded in a bloody and unwelcoming Iraq, their future uncertain. Members lived as virtual prisoners in their pretty, neatly tended camp, keeping up spirits with orchestral performances and traditional fire ceremonies for the Iranian new year.

The MEK was left vulnerable when U.S. forces ceded control of Camp Ashraf to Iraqi forces in January. The Iraqi government repeatedly had warned of plans to seize control of the camp and evict its residents. On July 28, Iraqi forces stormed Ashraf with armored vehicles and bulldozers. Residents fought back, lobbing stones and sharp objects at the troops. Deaths and injuries ensued, and now many MEK members are on a hunger strike to protest a blockade that's prevented food and medical supplies from entering the camp.

For the past couple of weeks, residents have emailed video and photos of the showdown with Iraqi forces. There's still no telling how all this will end, but this video from the recent clashes don't suggest a peaceful resolution to the MEK's predicament.

Note: The video is courtesy of the MEK, and was shot from their perspective. I cannot independently verify what's happening or tell you what the view was from the Iraqi side.