Allawi Doesn't Believe Any
Civilians Died In Fallujah
Fallujah Fighting Persists -
Aid Convoy Rejected
By Michael Georgy and Omar Anwar
11-15-4
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes, artillery and mortars struck
areas across Falluja on Monday as groups of diehard insurgents held
out to the last in the week-long battle.
The U.S. military says it has taken full control of Falluja, but
scattered spots of resistance remain, particularly in southern parts.
Large areas of the city lie in ruins, devastated by the ferocity of
the U.S. military's seven-day onslaught.
A Reuters correspondent who drove from north to south saw bloated and
decomposing bodies in the streets, smashed homes, ruined mosques and
power and telephone lines hanging uselessly.
Iraq's Red Crescent group has sent seven truck-loads of food and
medicine to the city, but the U.S. forces have held up the aid at
Falluja's main hospital, on the western outskirts.
A U.S. Marine commander said American forces were working to deliver
assistance in the city themselves. Any Iraqis needing help would be
told to go to the hospital, he said.
Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said he doesn't believe
any civilians were killed in the offensive, which has left 38 U.S.
soldiers, 6 Iraqi troops and more than 1,200 insurgents dead. But
witness accounts contradicted him.
A member of an Iraqi relief committee told Al Jazeera television he
saw 22 bodies buried in rubble of one street in Falluja's northern
Jolan district on Sunday.
"Of the 22 bodies, five were found in one house as well as two
children whose ages did not exceed 15 and a man with an artificial
leg," Mohammed Farhan Awad said.
"Some of the bodies we found had been eaten by stray dogs and cats. It
was a very painful sight."
No help has reached civilians in Falluja since the assault began last
Monday. Aid agencies have described the situation as a humanitarian
disaster, basing their view on the accounts of refugees who have fled
and images broadcast on television.
The Iraqi Red Crescent says it knows of at least 150 families trapped
inside Falluja in desperate need of aid. One father of seven contacted
by Reuters on Sunday said his children were sick from diarrhea and had
not eaten for days.
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