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Reference

Falluja Archive Oct 2004

Falluja Table - April 16

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IBC Extracted Falluja News - April 16

News Source
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Author
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Title

Reuters
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15 IRAQIS DIE AS US PLANES STRAFE FALLUJAH

Specific incidents / deaths

United States troops and Iraqi guerrillas fought fierce clashes overnight in the western city of Falluja and 15 Iraqis were killed, witnesses and a medical official said on Friday.

...

"Fifteen Iraqis were killed and 20 were wounded," said Dr Issam Mohammed, a senior medical official.

Date killed? 15th-16th
(overnight)
Total 15
[20 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter

 

Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Hundreds of Iraqis have died there in fighting since, hospital officials say.

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

 

US/military viewpoint

 

News Source
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Author
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Title
Aljazeera
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9:43 Makka Time, 6:43 GMT
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MORE IRAQIS KILLED IN FALLUJA
Specific incidents / deaths

US occupation troops and fighters have fought fierce clashes in the western city of Falluja killing 15 Iraqis, witnesses and a medical official said.

...

"Fifteen Iraqis were killed and 20 were wounded," said Dr Issam Muhammad, a senior medical official.

Date killed? 15th-16th (overnight)?
Total 15
[20 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Around 125 Iraqis killed in Falluja fighting buried in this makeshift cemetery

...

Hundreds of Iraqis have died there in fighting since, said hospital officials.

Date range? 5th-15th?
Total 125 (in one makehift cemetery; 'hundreds' overall
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

Our correspondent Hamid Hadeed in Falluja reported that US forces bombed Jolan and Shuhada quarters.

Fierce clashes erupted overnight between the US forces and Iraqi resistance fighters. US aircraft dropped cluster bombs over Jolan, he said.

The city also came under intensive artillery bombardment. 

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
BBC
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18:41:41 GMT
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TALKS TO RESOLVE FALLUJA STANDOFF
Specific incidents / deaths

At least 10 people were reportedly killed in Falluja overnight - many others died in clashes elsewhere.

Date killed? 15th-16th (overnight)
Total 'at least' 10
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

In Falluja, the 11-strong Iraqi delegation of town and tribal elders arrived nearly two hours behind schedule shortly before 1700 (1300 GMT).

They asked that their names not be released and that no pictures be taken of them for fear of reprisals by militants, the Associated Press reported.

Afterwards, Hashem al-Hassani, a representative of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council who led the delegation, said he was "optimistic" about the talks.

"Fallujans want to return to peace and normal life. They are willing to take steps in that direction and the same is true of the coalition forces," he said.

...

The Falluja leaders want the US marines to withdraw - at least partially.

They also want to deploy a locally recruited police force.

Iraqi mediators say the two sides have agreed in principle to give ground on some of their demands - but no details have been released.

US/military viewpoint

The US delegation was led by Ambassador Richard Jones and Maj Gen Joseph Weber.

The coalition says it is willing "to give diplomatic negotiations a chance".

But Gen Webber warned: "I must be candid... time is limited".

"We cannot just sit and allow the situation to continue the way it is," he said.

The Americans are demanding that the militias disarm.

They also want those responsible for the recent murder and mutilation of four US security contractors to be brought to justice.

News Source
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Author
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Title
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
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Qatar: Al-Jazirah Satellite Channel Television in Arabic 0838 GMT 16 Apr 04
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IRAQI MUSLIM ULEMA COUNCIL HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE ON SITUATION IN AL-FALLUJAH
Specific incidents / deaths

Al-Kubaysi accuses the US forces of attacking ambulances and killing pregnant woman."There are still scores of bodies under the rubble, which we cannot reach because US snipers refuse that anyone reach them."

Date killed? pre-15th
Total 1 (pregnant woman) + 'scores' (still buried under rubble)
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Asked by the correspondent of the Middle East News Agency [MENA] about the number of those killed or wounded in Al-Fallujah and those who were forced to leave it, Al-Kubaysi says: "We cannot have accurate statistics because many people were buried in public parks and others are still under the rubble. What we have is that 127 children and 171 women were killed. Other old people and civilians were killed in their houses in Al-Fallujah."

Date range? 5th-15th?
Total 298
(only counting women and children)
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

Al-Kubaysi says despite compliance by Al-Fallujah residents with the ceasefire, the US forces continued to take up positions and dig trenches to encircle the city. He adds: "Last night and during daytime yesterday, massacres were committed against the citizens of Al-Fallujah by US planes that use the banned cluster bombs."

...

He also accuses the US forces of taking away children who were not involved in fighting to a juice plant, "which was turned into a big prison and a place for torturing the children of Al-Fallujah."

...

Al-Kubaysi notes that the US forces yesterday [15 April] denied the negotiating delegation access to Al-Fallujah and prevented medical aid from going into the city. He says that the delegation was allowed to enter Al-Fallujah today. He notes that Dr. Makki Husayn al-Kubaysi, leader of the MUC in Al-Fallujah, "is playing a leading role to calm the situation."

...

Answering a question by the correspondent of Al-Sabah newspaper, Al-Kubaysi says: "I was contacted by the father of two persons two days ago. He was arrested along with his two sons on 7 April and was released two days ago. He said they practice torture in that factory. He said people, including his two sons, were tortured. They were forced to stand for long hours and were given one loaf of bread a day. Their mouths were gagged with a Scotch tape. Horrible methods of torture are being used in that factory."

Answering a question, Al-Kubaysi says: "With regard to the issue of Arab fighters, it seems that the US side forgot it. I do not know why. We did not discuss this issue. Neither did we discuss the handing over of weapons during the last meeting." He adds: "As for the issue of Arab fighters, its reality has been twisted. We do not know what is going on in the minds of the Americans."

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
Human Rights Watch
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IRAQ: AVOID HARM TO CIVILIANS
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

A shaky truce has been in place since April 12, after the head of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer, called for a cease fire to allow in humanitarian supplies and to "allow residents of Falluja to tend to wounded and dead." U.S. troops reportedly used loudspeakers to announce that women, children, and elderly could leave the city, but not "military age men." Subsequent reports however indicate that men have been among the thousands who have fled, mainly to Baghdad.

The number of killed and wounded is sharply disputed. The director of Falluja's general hospital, Rafa al-Issawi, reportedly estimated that some 600 persons had been killed, citing reports from clinics in the city and several soccer fields where bodies were being interred. News correspondents reported seeing rows of freshly dug graves at one of the soccer fields and Khalaf al-Jumaili, a volunteer gravedigger, told the Associated Press that more than 300 persons had been buried there.

...

"Reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in Falluja are unconfirmed, but serious enough to warrant further inquiry," Stork said. "At this point we just don't know the numbers or if their deaths were the result of any unlawful behavior on the part of U.S. troops. That's why an impartial and comprehensive investigation is in order."

Human Rights Watch said that all parties to the conflict have a duty not to subject civilians unnecessarily to the dangers of military operations.

Al-Issawi, the hospital director, also said that many of the dead were women, children, and the elderly. U.S. military officials have insisted that U.S. forces have taken great precaution to avoid harming civilians and civilian casualties have been minimal.

US/military viewpoint

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, responding to the reports, said, "What I think you'll find is 95 percent of those were military age males that were killed in the fighting. The marines are trained to be very precise in their firepower�. The fact that there are 600 [killed] goes back to the fact that the marines are very good at what they do."

News Source
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Author
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Title
Granma International
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U.S. COMMAND ATTEMPTS TO ATTRIBUTE IRAQ REBELLION ON FOREIGNERS
Specific incidents / deaths

Meanwhile, U.S. tanks continued firing on Fallujah, leaving two people dead and three injured. A third Iraqi died after being shot by a sniper.

Date killed? 16th?
Total 2 (tankfire) + 1 (by sniper) =3
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Although a truce reached Sunday is still in place, the U.S. troops are trying to reduce by force the number of persons defending Fallujah, a city of 200,000, and their bombardments have caused the death of more than 600 civilians.

Date range? 5th-15th?
Total 600+
Civilian / Fighter '600 civilians'
Selected info, comment, analysis

One mortar fell on a Jordanian field hospital in the city's outskirts, a government spokesman denounced in Amman, adding that a minor official "had been slightly wounded in the hand."

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
Reuters
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10:16 (UK)
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Fadel Badran
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NAJAF STANDOFF FUELS IRAQ TENSION
Specific incidents / deaths

A hospital official said 15 people were killed and 20 wounded in overnight clashes that erupted in Falluja just hours after America's top general said truce talks could not go on for ever and more military action might be necessary.

Date killed? 15th-16th
(overnight)
Total 15
[20 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

Last Friday the U.S. military said it had suspended offensive operations in Falluja but would hit back if attacked. Talks to stabilise a shaky truce have led to relative calm interspersed with intense bouts of fighting and air strikes.

US/military viewpoint

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged the recent U.S. military death toll was beyond expectations.

But like Bush in a news conference this week, he refused to accept charges from critics that Washington had not anticipated the lawlessness and insurgency its troops are now battling.

"I would rather answer it my way," a grim-faced Rumsfeld retorted under questioning at a news conference.

"What I said, I thought, reasonably clearly was that if, a year ago, you had asked me to describe where you would be on April 15, 2004, in Iraq...I would not have described it precisely the way we are now."

News Source
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Author
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Title
United Press International
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8:12:33 EDT
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SUNNI CLERICS BLAST U.S. FORCES
Specific incidents / deaths Sheik Abdel Salam al-Kabissi, a spokesman for the Sunni Muslim Ulemas' Committee, accused U.S. troops of bombarding the city throughout the night, killing 15 Iraqis.
Date killed? 15th-16th (overnight)
Total 15
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis Sunni Muslim clerics mediating a truce in Fallujah said Friday U.S. forces are reinforcing positions around the embattled city further, fueling tension.

...

He said U.S. forces also besieged a group of children sheltering in a soft drink factory on the outskirts of Fallujah. "The situation in Fallujah is very volatile and tense despite the renewal of the truce," al-Kabissi said. The committee, the Iraqi Governing Council and the Islamic Iraqi Party are involved in mediation efforts to end fighting that has pitted Sunni insurgents against U.S. forces for more than 10 days, killing hundreds of Iraqis and dozens of troops.
US/military viewpoint  

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