The Iraqi Red Crescent
Described Conditions in Falluja as "Catastrophic"
The US military says the
fighting is still not at an end
US and Iraqi forces in Falluja
say they are now in control of almost all of the former rebel-held city
after
nearly a week of fighting. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said
pockets
of resistance remained, but US-led troops were now operating in much,
if not
all, of Falluja.
The
first aid convoy has arrived, amid fears of a humanitarian crisis. But
a relief
agency spokeswoman told the BBC that US forces had refused to let them
distribute the supplies.
Fardous
al-Ubaidi, from the Iraqi Red Crescent, said five lorries and three
ambulances
had driven to the city's hospital carrying food and medicine, but were
told to
go no further. The hospital remains cut off from the main part of the
city,
where the aid agency reports that civilians are hiding in their houses,
without
drinking water and running low on food.
"Our
situation is very hard," one resident in the centre of the city told
Reuters
news agency by telephone. "We don't have food or water. My seven
children all
have severe diarrhoea. One of my sons was wounded by shrapnel last
night and he's bleeding, but I can't do anything to help him." The man, Abu
Mustafa, said
he had seen US and Iraqi soldiers in his street as explosions rang out. "There
were bodies lying in the street," he said. Abu Mustafa said he knew of
six
families nearby in a similar plight, before breaking down in tears. "We
are
still fasting, though it is the Eid [end of Ramadan feast] today," he
said.
The
Iraqi health ministry said on Sunday that it had sent blood and
medical supplies
to the hospital. An American military spokesman said the distribution
of relief
supplies had been prevented for security reasons.
In
Falluja, a US marine commander, Col Mike Shupp, said his forces had
swept from
the north to the south of the city, going house-to-house. He said they
had
found and destroyed large arms caches hidden in houses and mosques,
including
rockets, landmines and ammunition. Col Shupp told the BBC he believed
civilians
were either hiding in their homes, or had heeded US warnings before the
assault
to leave the city. "I've driven through most of the city and I have not
seen
civilians out on the streets," he said.
In
Baghdad, the BBC's Caroline Hawley says, Iraq is witnessing an
escalation of
violence elsewhere as the insurgents try to open up new fronts in the
country.
Clashes continued in Ramadi, near Falluja on Saturday, while the Iraqi
government sent extra troops to the northern city of Mosul to quell
violence
that has flared in recent days. A US military brigade bound for Falluja
has
been diverted to Mosul, our correspondent says.
[. . .]
At least 24 Americans and five Iraqi soldiers have been killed, and
almost 180
US soldiers wounded, since the assault began on Monday.
Tens
of thousands of civilians fled Falluja before the offensive, but
thousands of
people are thought to have stayed. The Iraqi Red Crescent described
conditions
in the city as "catastrophic".
Source: BBC News 14.11.2004, 09:52 GMT
