Families Flee US Bombardment of Falluja

08/09/2004| IslamWeb

The Iraqi city of Falluja is coming under heavy artillery fire, sending families fleeing and causing civilian casualties, hospital sources have said. Witnesses reported an intense tank and artillery barrage in the southern Shuhada district and industrial zone. US warplanes also bombarded the eastern corridor of the city late on Tuesday evening, residents told Reuters. Aljazeera reported that heavy smoke was seen spewing over the industrial neighbourhood in the city. The general hospital had received an undetermined number of casualties and panic swept the city, AFP reported. **Civilians killed*** The US military said the bombardment was in reprisal for an earlier attack on US positions. "Significant numbers of enemy fighters - up to 100 - are estimated to have been killed," the statement read. However, Iraqi sources said it was civilians who were killed in the barrage on the city. One ambulance driver told Reuters that he had transported two dead and 15 wounded to hospital, while families fleeing the air raids said there were more corpses and wounded trapped in the zones under attack. A central Falluja hospital official, Dr Muhammad Aboud, said the dead included an eight-year-old child and a 65-year-old man. **Aerial assaults condemned*** A US air strike on Falluja on 1 September killed 20 people prompting mass demonstrations against the policy of aerial bombardment of civilian areas. Hundreds of protesters condemned the killing of civilians by US warplanes, calling US air raids a cowardly action and calling on US soldiers to fight them on the battlefield. The US military claims it is targeting "safe-houses" used by Jordanian fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his supporters. However, Falluja residents point to the number of killed and injured women and children after every air strike. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqis survey a crater left after a US air strike in Fallujah. (AFP)