Many Civilians Killed in Falluja

13/09/2004| IslamWeb

US forces have launched air strikes on the Iraqi town of Falluja, killing up to 18 people, including women, children and an ambulance driver. Up to 29 others have been injured in the strikes, which began at 4am (0100 GMT), on different parts of the city, just west of Baghdad. Seven people, including the driver of an ambulance, were killed when US aircraft fired a missile at the vehicle while it was transporting casualties near the northern gate of the city, Aljazeera has learnt. "Every time we send out an ambulance, it gets targeted," Dr Rafea al-Isawi, director of Falluja hospital, told Aljazeera. "How are we going to transfer casualties? This is unreasonable. The US army has no ethics. "Shame on our government that cannot protect the people," he added. Three homes were destroyed in the al-Shurta neighbourhood, according to the doctor. "Women and men have died," he said. Witnesses said US warplanes swooped low over the city and some of the shelling appeared to be coming from American artillery units deployed on Falluja's outskirts. **Market place blast*** One explosion went off in a market place as the first stall owners had just begun to set up their stalls, wounding several people and shattering windows, witnesses said. Others saw black columns of smoke rising over Falluja and said hundreds of families had begun leaving the town, largely under the control of those fighting US forces and the American-backed interim Iraqi government. An Iraqi journalist told Aljazeera that fierce clashes had also erupted near the city's northern gate. Several US army tanks have been stationed at the gate. The southern gate of the town has been closed. **Rising toll*** The journalist said casualty figures were expected to rise as the clashes were continuing. US tanks are also bombing homes in the al-Jughaivi neighbourhood near the northern gate. The latest attacks follow a day of fierce clashes between Iraqi armed fighters and US troops across the country. On Sunday, at least 110 people were killed in various parts of the country in an escalation of gun battles, car bombs and bombardments. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqis gather near a destroyed Iraqi Red Crescent ambulance following a US air strike in Fallujah. (AFP)