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Reference

Falluja Archive Oct 2004

Falluja Table - April 21

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IBC Extracted Falluja News - April 21

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Xinhua News Agency
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DISPLACED FALLUJAH RESIDENTS NOWHERE TO RETURN
Specific incidents / deaths

According to the ceasefire agreement signed between the coalition forces and the top figures in the city, 50 families were allowed, starting Tuesday, to return to the city everyday. But the operation was halted due to fresh clashes that left 17 Iraqis dead north of Fallujah early Wednesday.

...

"The family of Sheikh Kamal Shakir Al Nazal was forced to stay at home for more than eight days for fear of the American snipers in the neighborhood. But when their food and water supplies ran out, they had to leave," described Qadir.

"The family came out carrying a white flag, nevertheless the American snipers killed two of the children and wounded three women," he added.

Date killed? 21st; before 21st
Total

17 ('north of Fallujah') + 2 ('children of 'Sheikh Kamal Shakir Al Nazal') = 19

Civilian / Fighter

'two... children'

Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

"The basketball court in the city is full of graves now and we started digging in the football field. We had already filled two trenches one day before I came, because the American forces took control of the graveyard," he said.

Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

On the third day of a ceasefire, an old woman fleeing Fallujah found that she had no home to return despite the American forces allowed 50 families to enter the besieged city everyday.

"I don't want anything in this world but my house...I want my house," said 60-year-old Fakhriyah Abdul Ghafur, who refused to leave her house until the front side of it was destroyed by US bombardments.

...

Ten-year-old Omar said, "I remember many dead bodies all over the streets, and I don't know who killed them or why they were left there."

"The Americans airplanes threw on us bombs that looked like black boxes which exploded between houses. I remember one of them exploding in the air and the sound was terrifying," he added.

In the last days of the siege, the Americans forces would not let any male between the ages of 14 and 45 to leave the city. Some of them had to swim across the river for their lives, under fire of snipers.

"I felt when I crossed the Euphrates River the scene was like Titanic because there were corpses and blood in the water," said 19-year-old Ameer.

"There were very little chances of survival, there were shots coming at us from everywhere," he recalled.

US/military viewpoint

News Source
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Author
-
Title

Reuters
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05:42 AM ET
-
Fadel Badran
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U.S. TROOPS, IRAQ REBELS CLASH IN FALLUJA

Aljazeera
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13:04 Makka Time, 10:04 GMT
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US DESTROYING FALLUJA HOMES
Specific incidents / deaths

U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents traded machinegun fire, mortars and grenades for four hours in Falluja early on Wednesday, killing six civilians and breaking a tentative cease-fire, residents said.

They said the clashes erupted in the town's Golan district at around 6 a.m. (10 p.m. EDT Tuesday). U.S. military aircraft flew over the area during the battle, the witnesses said.

They said six unarmed civilians were killed and 10 wounded by U.S. fire. There was no independent confirmation of the toll nor of who was responsible for the casualties. U.S. officials, who say their troops do not target civilians, declined comment.

The committee added that marines broke the truce by shooting eight Iraqis dead on Tuesday.

Date killed? 21st (AM) 20th
Total 6
(early Wednesday)
8 (shot by Marines)
Civilian / Fighter 6/0  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Local doctors say more than 600 Iraqis have died in fighting in Falluja since and up to 2,000 have been wounded, many of them women and children.

Under siege by US marines for more than two weeks, and after 600 Iraqi civilian fatalities, one fighter told Aljazeera some tanks and armoured vehicles had been forced to leave the Golan quarter.

Date range? 5th-20th? 5th-20th?
Total 600+
[2000 wounded]
600
Civilian / Fighter 'many of them women and children'  
Selected info, comment, analysis

A warplane flew overhead, followed by a large blast in the distance. Black smoke rose from the ground.

...

The U.S. military said more than a week ago it had suspended offensive operations in Falluja, but would hit back if attacked.

"They killed all that moved, even the animals. These people are the enemies of mankind," he added, calling on people of "good conscience to act to stop" the bloodshed.

...

However, a family that was permitted to return found US forces had turned their home into headquarters and are using its roof as an observation post.

The family was forced to search for another house, not under attack, after they found themselves homeless in their own city.

...


But Iraq's Association of Muslim Scholars added that the Falluja agreement was "accepted by all the fighter groups" and that Rumsfeld's comments represented a fundamental misunderstanding.

US/military viewpoint  

On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the chances of a negotiated solution to the mounting battle were "remote" and warned the US military might use more severe weapons.

"Thugs and assassins and former Saddam henchmen will not be allowed to carve out portions of that city and to oppose peace and freedom," Rumsfeld said.

News Source
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Author
-
Title
IslamOnline
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Dr. Mohammed Hassan Al-Meshelany, Iraqi Physician
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An Eyewitness Account: An Iraqi Physician in Fallujah
Specific incidents / deaths

Most of the injuries are due to the fall of the bombs. Children and women were targeted by snipers in fatal sites, like the head, the left side of the chest, or crushed injury affecting most of the body with multiple fractures.

The types of weapons used are jet fighters, helicopters, tanks and heavy artillary - in addition to the snipers.

I will tell you a real story of one of the injured civilians. He told me that his four brothers, in the same house, all of them are married and they have children. When he heard the sound of the helicopters and jet fighters, he tried to protect his wife and children. He put them in between his arms. But unfortunately, the bombs fell on his house, which led to the death of his wife and children between his arms. And he had his foot amputated and maprotomy was done to him. Two of his brothers, with their wives and children, and the wife and children of his third brother, died. The ones who remained alive from all the four families were only two persons.

Date killed?  
Total

(all figures are bare mins, plural 'children'=2)
3 (wife and children of survivor) +
6 (two of his brothers, their wives and children - assuming min of 1 child per couple) + 3
(the wife and children of his third brother) = 12

Civilian / Fighter 12/0
Cumulative deaths [and injuries] More than 800 civilians were killed. Most of them were children, women and old people, because the jet fighthers and the helicopters targeted mosques, houses, and even health centers.
Date range? 5th-pre-21st
Total 800+
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis And I think that resistance fighters there are the ordinary people of Fallujah. They fight to defend and protect their town until the last drop. I hope they can continue to fight.

...

There is a lot of shortage in most of our hospitals in medical equipment. As you know, when helicopters and jet fighters target any town, anywhere, with a lot of people, there will be a lot of injuries, with severely crushed injuries, which requires a lot of staff available at the moment and rapid action, which is usually not the case. It can't help 50 injured people or more at the same time, especially when the main hospital was under American control, where they did not allow any injured persons to reach the hospital.

...

How do the health care facilities of today's Iraq differ from those in Saddam's era? Are the doctors and the rest of the medical staff being paid as they were before?

Answer            Medical equipment, most of it, was either destroyed or stolen after the American forces entered Iraq. So there is a lot of shortage in medical equipment and laboratory test material, which were available before the occupation.

The salaries of medical staff and sub-staff differ from one ministry to another and from one hospital to another. For example, the teaching staff and the surgeons, cradiologists, orthopeditics, ophthologists - their salaries were reduced to half, or lower than half. But others, for example, most of sub-staff and the newly employed doctors - their salaries increased.

...

Question           Do the American forces target the hospitals and ambulances on purpose?

Answer            They insist on targeting the health centers and the ambulances, and they kill the drivers of the ambulances with their assistant medical staff. They did this many times. So most of the ambulances cannot reach the injured civilians because the snipers insist on targeting them.

The only hospital in Al-Fallujah is under the control of the American forces, who shoot anyone trying to approach it.

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
-
Title
Agence France-Presse
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FALLUJAH A 'RAT'S NEST'
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

 

US/military viewpoint

Washington - The top US general said on Tuesday that the Iraqi town of Fallujah was "a rat's nest" that will have to be dealt with in part through the use of military force.

...

"We went in because we had to to find the perpetrators and what we found was a huge rat's nest that is still festering today. It needs to be dealt with," he told the senate armed services committee.

Myers, who visited Iraq last week, said that although coalition authorities were responding with negotiations and a ceasefire, extremists continued to fire on US marines in Fallujah.

...

"I think it was yesterday or the day before a Red Crescent ambulance trying to get in Fallujah was stopped and weapons were found inside. They are trying to resupply themselves with weapons and ammunition," he said.

News Source
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Author
-
Title
San Francisco Bay Guardian
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THE KILL ZONE
Specific incidents / deaths

Nearby, we find a middle-aged man lying dead in the street. He is unarmed but was shot in his neck and side. As we begin to remove the body, his family pours out of a nearby house, all of them hysterical with grief and fear.

Date killed? 10th or earlier
Total 1
Civilian / Fighter 1/0
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

The man in charge of the clinic, an exhausted Iraqi who speaks fluent English, explains that he has very few supplies to work with and that it is almost impossible to cross the town to move people or medicine, because of U.S. troops. He shows us an ambulance with bullet holes in the front window, sides, and top, and the driver has a bandage on his head.

...


While our Iraqi partner calms the family, the Brit and I return to the marines to negotiate the evacuation of the family, who are one half-block away from the soldiers. The marines also ask us a favor: they have a family in a house they are occupying, and they cannot give them food or water. Can we evacuate them as well? We agree.

As the family in the occupied house emerges, automatic gunfire starts up very close by, and the marines tell us we are going to have to get this thing done fast. Soon, we're headed back to the hospital with two families and three corpses.

...

There is only one hitch on the return trip, when we take a wrong turn on the outskirts of town and run into a bunch of fighters who don't know who we are. It seems the city's defenders are not centrally organized, that they work in small groups, and these folks haven't heard about us.

Are we evacuating wounded Americans? Are we spies? It is very tense for a few moments, but luckily the bus is filled with wounded locals, who explain indignantly to the gunmen what is going on, and we are then free to make the long trip back to Baghdad.

US/military viewpoint

We roll back toward the kill zone, on the same route as the day before, and again walk from the truck. Where before there were a few marines, now there are scores. A whole line of houses is occupied, and soldiers are visible on every roof, scanning the horizon with field glasses.

"We are an international emergency medical team!" we say. "Please do not shoot us!"

Three marines run down the front stairs of a house and approach us very cautiously. They take up positions on the street and nervously eye us. Their team leader, sweaty and covered with dust, looks me over incredulously, an American man standing in front of him in an orange baseball cap and jeans.

"What in the fuck are you doing here?" he asks.

"We're here to evacuate wounded people," the Brit replies.

News Source
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Author
-
Title
Associated Press
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9:46 PM (UK)
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JASON KEYSER and LOURDES NAVARRO
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MARINES KILL 20 INSURGENTS IN FALLUJAH
Specific incidents / deaths

On Wednesday, shops sealed up again - and remained so through the day - after explosions were heard from fighting on the north side of the city, and Cobra helicopter gunships were blasting with Gatling guns from the air. Tanks moved into the Julan neighborhood where Marines said the insurgents had taken up positions.

The battle began when 13 insurgents ambushed Marines on the north side of the city, Byrne said. The Marines called in Cobra gunships that killed 10 of the attackers.

Nearly three dozen insurgents joined the fight with Marines in a running battle that lasted four hours. It ended when U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs. Ten more insurgents were killed, Byrne said

Date killed? 21st
Total 20 'insurgents'
Civilian / Fighter 0/20
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

The battle for the city has killed at least seven Marines and more than 600 Iraqis, mostly civilians, according to the city hospital.

Date range? 5th-20th?
Total 600+
Civilian / Fighter 'mostly civilians'
Selected info, comment, analysis

About 10 families re-entered the city in the morning before Marines announced to some 600 Iraqis waiting at the checkpoint that no more would be allowed in.

Wednesday's events were a setback to an agreement aimed at bringing peace to the beleaguered city, reached over the weekend by U.S. officials and Fallujah leaders. Under the deal, the city leaders called on guerrillas to disarm, and the Americans said they would try to let in 50 families a day.

U.S. officials say the handover of heavy weapons is vital and have warned that if the deal falls through, the Marines may launch a major assault on Sunni insurgents. That would likely mean a resumption of heavy fighting.

...

Wednesday contrasted with the spirit of optimism on Tuesday, when several hundred Iraqi police and security forces moved back into the city, along with 50 returning families. A curfew was pushed back by two hours to 9 p.m, and shops opened to allow residents to stock up on goods.

US/military viewpoint

Capt. Matt Watt, of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines regiment, said he doubted the battle would scuttle Monday's agreement, suggesting it was an isolated attack by a relatively small group of guerrillas.

"I think its one last surge by the Mujahedeen and criminal type elements in the city to get one last attack in before the political situation snuffs them out," Watt said. "They see that the end is near and they are making one last push."

News Source
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Author
-
Title
Cox News Service
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LARRY KAPLOW
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IRAQI DEATHS TOP 556 IN TWO WEEKS OF FIGHTING
Specific incidents / deaths

In Yarmouk Hospital, Haider al-Enezi, about 10 years old, lay motionless. Relatives said they believed the rest of his family -- his parents and three siblings, had been killed when a rocket or bomb fell near their home.

Date killed? pre-21st
Total 5 (parents and three siblings of 10-yr-old survivor, Haider al-Enezi)
Civilian / Fighter 5/0
Cumulative deaths [and injuries] Al-Ainachi said his office counted 264 people killed in Fallujah, including 52 women and children. A hospital director in the city had previously estimated that 600 Iraqis died there.

...

The emergency operations center maintains contact with health ministry workers throughout the country. One of them toured Fallujah over two days this week and, examining records at five medical clinics and a mosque-turned-hospital, tallied the 264 killed, including 28 children and 24 women. He also found records of 791 wounded, including 44 children and 55 women.

With fighting making it dangerous to move in the city, some Iraqis have buried their dead in their yards or in a soccer stadium. Al-Ainachi said his worker tried to track such cases down and he believes that they would only increase the totals by about 15 percent. Al-Ainachi, an orthopedic surgeon from Baghdad who worked for nine years in Fallujah, said he believed the doctor on the scene who gave higher casualty numbers might have inflated his estimates under heavy local pressure.

Date range? 5th-19th?
Total 264 (+ estimated 15% unnaccounted for=304)
Civilian / Fighter '28 children and 24 women'
Selected info, comment, analysis

At least 556 Iraqis, including 117 women and children, died in fighting between gunmen and the American-led coalition across Iraq in the last two weeks, according to figures compiled by the Iraqi Health Ministry.

...

In an interview Tuesday, Dr. Shakir al-Ainachi, who runs the emergency office, said more than 2,000 Iraqis were injured over the period from April 4 through Monday. That included at least 218 women and children.

...

The figures provided by al-Ainachi were for wounded and killed in what he called military-related incidents. They included fighters and non-combatants. Victims were counted as children if they were under 16 years old.

...

Al-Ainachi's office was established this month to coordinate and respond to requests for ambulances, blood, medical equipment and doctors in emergencies with heavy casualties. For example, his office sent 34 ambulances to Fallujah and deployed nearly 200 medical personnel there to treat the wounded.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has asked for an investigation into civilian deaths in Fallujah in order to sort out conflicting U.S. and Iraqi accounts of the situation there. Told Tuesday about the accounting done by al-Ainachi's office, Joe Stork, acting executive director of the group's Middle East division, said the key question is how the casualties were caused.

He said the figures showed the high casualty counts caused by conflict in densely populated areas. He also questioned how many of the male victims were non-combatants.

US/military viewpoint  

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