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Main | Reports | 
End the Massacre in Falluja!
April 9 2004
Occupied Baghdad
From Andréa Schmidt for the Iraq Solidarity Project
470 killed.
1200 injured, of which
243 are women and 200 are children.
This is the first,
underestimated body count from Falluja.
Since fighting escalated
at the beginning of the week, Iraqi people,
especially in the city
of Falluja, are facing a humanitarian disaster.
Occupation Forces have
laid siege to the city. More
than 470 people have
been killed, 1200
injured. Dead bodies are lying
in the streets.
Falluja is being
mortared and bombed by F-16 fighter planes, helicopters
dropping cluster bombs
and rocket-propelled grenades.
Ambulances are being
shot at by snipers. Medical aid and supplies have
been stopped by US
Occupation Forces. Aid workers delivering supplies have
had to take secondary
roads into the city; once they arrived, they found
themselves under fire
from US snipers. No
humanitarian corridor has been put in place.
A cease-fire was
announced and people began trying to flee, but US troops
resumed their attacks.
Many people remain trapped inside the city, and
refugees trying to
escape from Falluja to Baghdad are being prevented from
reaching their
destination by US military. They form a column that extends
over 10 kilometers of
highway.
The thousands of
families who remain trapped in Falluja are running out of
basic necessities like
food and potable water.
Hospitals and medical
staff are overwhelmed,
and are asking desperately for blood, oxygen and
antiseptics.
Fighting is spreading
all over the country, Al-Sadr City has been attacked
and paid a high price
with almost 100 casualties. The situation in
Southern cities – Kerbala, Najaf, Kut – is unknown to
us, but they are
also feared to be the
sights of humanitarian
emergencies.
The international
community, the United Nations and the European Community
cannot remain spectators
to the massacre in Falluja and the terrorization
of Iraqi people all over
the country.
The international
community must take a firm position and demand that
Coalition Forces stop
these massacres and respect international
conventions and allow
for a humanitarian corridor through which refugees
can safely escape, and
medical supplies can reach Falluja.
Stop the massacre.
Stop attacking
civilians.
End the siege of
Falluja.
Signed:
Bridge to Baghdad/Italy
(001 914 360 9080 in Baghdad)
CCIPPP/France (079 01 427 627 in Baghdad)
Italian Consortium of
Solidarity/Italy
Iraq Solidarity
Project/Canada (079 01 429 115 in Baghdad)
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