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Reference

Falluja Archive Oct 2004

Falluja Table - April 14

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IBC Extracted Falluja News - April 14

News Source
-
Author
-
Title

American Friends Service Committee
-
CORRESPONDENTS' JOURNAL

Specific incidents / deaths

 

Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter

 

Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

International news sources estimate that 690 Iraqis were killed in Fallujah and Ramadi and 1,174 were wounded during the period of April 5�12.

...

At an emergency meeting of international relief organizations on Easter Sunday, we heard a report that 518 Iraqis had been killed in Fallujah, including 157 women and 146 children. One hundred of the children were under the age of twelve, and 46 were under the age of five. 

Date range? 5th-12th
Total 518
Civilian / Fighter

'including 157 women and 146 children'

Selected info, comment, analysis

 

US/military viewpoint

 

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
The Nation
-
THE 'CEASEFIRE' IN FALLUJAH
-
Dahr Jamail
Specific incidents / deaths

One of the bodies they brought to the clinic was that of a 55-year-old man shot in the back by a sniper outside his home, while his wife and children huddled wailing inside.

The family could not retrieve his body, for fear of being shot themselves. His stiff corpse was carried into the clinic, flies swarming above it. One of his arms was half-raised by rigor mortis.

Date killed? 10th (or earlier)
Total 1 '55-year-old man shot in the back by a sniper outside his home'
Civilian / Fighter 1/0
Cumulative deaths [and injuries] Hospital officials report that more than 600 Iraqis have now been killed, most of them civilians. Two soccer fields in Fallujah have been converted to graveyards.
Date range? 5th-14th?
Total 600+
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis Entering the city, we saw a huge cloud from a U.S. bomb. To our horror, we realized there was no cease-fire.

...

We rolled toward one small clinic behind mujahedeen lines, where we delivered our medical supplies from INTERSOS, an Italian NGO.

The clinic building was small, dirty and packed with wounded Iraqis. The Americans have bombed one hospital, and were sniping at people who attempted to enter and exit the other major medical facility. So there were effectively only two small clinics that were safe to care for the hundreds of wounded. (Along with the one we visited, there is one set up in a mechanic's garage.)

As we unloaded our supplies, in came a stream of wounded women and children. Civilian cars sped up to the clinic and over the curb out front, their drivers desperate to unload their wailing family members.

One woman, shot in the gut, was making rasping, gurgling noises as the doctors worked frantically to extract a bullet and patch the wound. All around were the sounds of muffled moaning. The clinic was running low on crucial supplies. The woman's small son had a bullet wound in the neck; his eyes glazed, he vomited continually as other doctors raced to save his life. The desperate work in the clinic continued, off and on, into the night as more victims arrived. From outside came the sound of occasional mortar explosions and sporadic bursts of gunfire.

...

Fighter jets roared overhead, circling the outskirts of the city. American bombs continued to fall not far from us, and sporadic gunfire continued.

...

The NGOs are pulling out. Everyone knows the "cease-fire" was a lie. If this is a truce, what does war look like?

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
-
Author
-
Title

New Standard
-
Dahr Jamail
-
WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS

Specific incidents / deaths Two graves of children killed in Falluja recently -- a 9 year-old boy and his 16 year-old sister. They are buried in the Martyr Cemetary in Abu Hanifa mosque.
Date killed? 'recently' pre-14th
Total 2
Civilian / Fighter 2 - 'a 9 year-old boy and his 16 year-old sister'
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis  
US/military viewpoint  
News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Knight-Ridder
-
ROBERT MORAN
-
REFUGEES FROM FALLUJAH SAY U.S. ATTACKS FUELING ILL-WILL AMONG IRAQIS
Specific incidents / deaths Mahmood, whose nephew was killed by gunfire, and other refugees painted a grim picture of life in Fallujah, with residents fearful of being shot by U.S. forces if they ventured into the streets. Some no longer felt safe in their houses.

...

A blind man, Sajeen, 21, sat on the floor and quietly rubbed prayer beads.

His great-uncle, Rabee Al Daraje, 57, said Sajeen's mother died last week from an illness. When she took ill, her family couldn't find an ambulance, so men pulled her on a cart to the hospital, Daraje said. By the time they arrived, it was too late.

Date killed? 1 during 6th-11th?
Total 1 'Mahmood's... nephew' + 1 'Sajeen's mother' (possibly from lack of medical care)
0 (min) 2 (max)
Civilian / Fighter 1 (Min) 2 (Max)
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

In Fallujah, residents buried their dead in two soccer fields and then in a third burial site with heavy equipment carving long trenches because the ground was too hard for men to dig holes, said Mahmood, 41.

"They bury the dead one beside the other," he said.

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

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt on Tuesday blamed the surging violence on foreign fighters, terrorists and a small number of Iraqis who are working with them.

Mahmood scoffed at that assertion.

"Only the people of Fallujah are resisting, and it is their right to fight," he said.

US/military viewpoint `
News Source
-
Author
-
Title

Associated Press
-
JASON KEYSER and LOURDES NAVARRO
-
FALLUJAH TRUCE SHAKEN; HOSTAGE KILLED

Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

Brahimi also criticized the U.S. military operation in Fallujah.

"Collective punishment is certainly unacceptable and the siege of the city is absolutely unacceptable," he said.

...

In a five-hour battle the same night, one of two armored vehicles sent to resupply a front-line Marine position got lost during an ambush and ended up nearly half a mile inside the southern part of city.

The vehicle, with 20 Marines inside, came under an even larger ambush. At least 100 gunmen opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, hitting it at least 10 times, knocking out its communications and its engine and paralyzing it.

...

The Marines in the armored vehicle fled into a nearby building, where they waited to be rescued. They threw back grenades that insurgents tossed over the wall and listened to gunmen whisper outside.

A rescue force, backed by four tanks, wandered the streets in search of the beleaguered vehicle, finding it by following black smoke. "We were firing in a 360-degree radius," said Lt. Joshua Glover, part of the team that reached the vehicle. While F-15 warplanes strafed the area for cover, the stricken armored vehicle was hooked to a tank and dragged away.

US/military viewpoint

"They've been preparing for this the whole time. ... We definitely stumbled into the wasp nest," said Captain Jason Smith, who was at the position meant to be resupplied.

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Agence France-Presse
-
Deborah Pasmantier
-
BAGHDAD'S MUSLIMS RUSH AID FOR FALLUJAH RESIDENTS
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Quoting hospital sources in Fallujah, Fouda Rawi, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party which is trying to mediate a permanent truce there, said that over 600 Iraqis had been killed and 1,250 wounded in the weeklong US offensive against the insurgents.

But US officials said it was impossible to give exact numbers on civilian casuaties.

Date range? 5th-11th
Total 600+ [1250 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

Heeding a call from their imam, Baghdad's Muslims have been rushing food and medical supplies to their local mosque for delivery to the beleaguered residents of Fallujah.

Since the mosque imam in Baghdad's Adhamiya district set up his appeal last week, the response has been phenomenal.

The mosque courtyard has been transformed into a giant warehouse filled with white UN bags containing rice or beans, boxes of vegetables and bottles of oil and water.

In one corner, there are stacks of cans bearing the sign: "USA - refined vegetables - fortified vitamin A."

Under the patio, dozens of buckets containing medicines are piled up, along with containers for blood donation and other surgical equipment.

"It took only an appeal from the imam and the faithful from the neighborhood flocked with supplies and medicines for the besieged residents of Fallujah," said Monder Moslah, a mosque security guard.

On Saturday, a supply convoy sent by ethnic Turkmen from the northern city of Kirkuk arrived, he added, highlighting what he said was a national example of solidarity by all Iraqi communities.

Since US marines launched their onslaught more than a week ago to flush out insurgents, two dozen convoys of five to 10 trucks each have left this mosque for Fallujah west of Baghdad, another mosque security official said.

...

"From rooftops (in Fallujah), the Americans shoot at everybody. Who can tolerate that? They are acting like (ousted Iraqi leader) Saddam Hussein: carrying out collective massacres."

Inside the beleaguered city that once housed 300,000, all shops are closed. Residents are holed up in their homes and running out of food, said Abbas Ibrahim, 30, resident who managed to leave Fallujah Friday.

...

Iraq's long-repressed Shiite majority has reacted generously, with residents of Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City bastion sending truckloads of food and medical supplies to their Sunni compatriots in Fallujah.

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
-
Author
-
Title

Agence France-Presse
-
0239 hrs Time is GMT + 8 hours
-
FALLUJAH TRUCE FRAYS; COPTER FORCED DOWN

Specific incidents / deaths

Hospital sources in Fallujah said nine Iraqis were killed and 38 wounded in sporadic fire breaching a truce between US forces and insurgents in the Sunni Muslim bastion.

"We have nine killed and 38 wounded today," said Mohamad Tabsh, a doctor at the main medical center of Fallujah, the Popular Clinic. "The wounded include three women and four children," he told AFP.

After three days of relative calm, fighting broke out late in the afternoon and American tanks opened fire in the city, a witness said.

"A shell fell on a building housing the teachers' institute in Al-Andalus neighborhood," Mohammed Aidan told AFP, adding that clashes had also broken out in the Al-Jumhuriya quarter.

Date killed? 13th
Total 9
[38 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter 'wounded include three women and four children'
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Fighting that began on April 5 has left more than 600 Iraqis dead and some 1,250 wounded, according to hospital sources quoted by one of the mediators.

"Among those killed were 160 women, 141 children and many elderly," said Fouda Rawi, senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, which was leading the bid for a permanent ceasefire.

Date range?  
Total 600+ [1250 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter 'Among those killed were 160 women, 141 children and many elderly'
Selected info, comment, analysis

A patchy truce around the besieged city of Fallujah started to unravel with a marine and nine Iraqis killed in sporadic fighting and an American helicopter forced down under fire.

At the same time, a senior coalition official said the alleged mastermind of Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, was believed to be in the area. "Zarqawi is believed to be in Fallujah or nearby," said Dan Senor.

US/military viewpoint

"I am not going to talk about specific plans for the hunt for Zarqawi but rest assured it is robust. ... We believe that Fallujah right now is a hotbed for foreign fighters in Iraq, which would include Zarqawi."

...

Coalition officials have said the number of civilian casualties was impossible to verify and insist their forces take every precaution to avoid hitting non-combattants.
News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Aljazeera
-
14:19 Makka Time, 11:19 GMT
-
FALLUJA CEASEFIRE BROKEN
Specific incidents / deaths

He also said the occupation on Tuesday pushed several tanks through the only open gateway used as an exit for Iraqi families in an apparent violation of the latest ceasefire in Falluja.

"The invading forces were met with fierce resistance by the Falluja defenders which forced the US tanks into a quick withdrawal," correspondent Abd Al-Adhim Muhammad reported.

"Five were killed and several others injured in the battles between the resistance fighters and the occupation troops."

The US fighter planes dropped stun bombs to cover their  troops withdrawal, he added.

...

Medical sources at Falluja's only functioning hospital said the main injuries being treated were gunshot wounds inflicted by US snipers, reported our correspondent.

He spoke to civilians at the hospital who said they were fleeing the city when they came under attack. There were several casualties, including a child, the distraught father told him.

Date killed? 13th
Total 5
Civilian / Fighter 0/5
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

The occupation besieged Falluja, 65km west of Baghdad, nine days ago in an effort to crush the resistance in the city of 300,000. Troops had completely sealed the city, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

Since then, the toll among Iraqis in Falluja has topped 700 and another 1200 have been injured, according to medical and US military personnel.

Date range? 5th-13th
Total 700+
[1200 injured]
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

Occupation forces in Iraq have used F16 fighter planes to bomb the Nizal neighbourhood in Falluja, Aljazeera TV's correspondent has reported.

US/military viewpoint

But occupation troops denied any violation of the ceasefire.

"Up to this moment and based on my sources, there is no violation ... but as we have always said, the coalition forces have the right to defend themselves in case there were violations by the other side," Garth Billy, occupation authority spokesperson said in an interview with Aljazeera TV.

Billy also denied the US is targeting civilians.

"There are very clear rules of engagement in every battle. The coalition forces follow specific, deliberate and strong rules of conduct. Thus, among our basic objectives is to minimise the number of innocent civilian casualties.

"But I may add that some fighters are 100% ready to put themselves in hospitals, schools and houses. As a result, there were civilian casualties, which is something tragic. We prefer if those fighters would come out into neutral zones to fight against the coalition forces."

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
-
Beth Potter
-
IRAQ: BAGHDAD HOSPITAL TREATING INJURED FROM FALLUJAH
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries] US troops last week launched a military campaign against insurgents in the city, in which more than 600 people have been killed according to international media reports.

...

A US spokesman has said more than 500 people have been killed, many in Fallujah, which is in the restive Sunni Muslim area of the country known as being loyal to former president Saddam Hussein. People who fled the city for Baghdad believe the number is much higher at up to 700 dead, and rising to 1,500 injured around the country.

Date range? 5th-13th
Total

500-700
['rising to' 1500 injured]

Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

"Everyone got shot, even the ones who were holding a white flag," Naser told IRIN in Baghdad, shaking his head. "We called an ambulance, and the ambulance driver was also shot."

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Christian Science Monitor
-
Christina Asquith
-
REFUGEES TELL OF RISING ANGER IN FALLUJAH
Specific incidents / deaths

Fudella told her story from a crowded, dank, bomb shelter in Baghdad, alongside some 60 other Fallujan women and children. With tattooed hands and black veils wrapped around their faces, the women shouted out accusations of reckless killings by the US forces the say they witnessed: a neighbor's house bombed, killing all 19 people inside; a 5-year-old gunned down by a sniper on a minaret; an old man mowed down by helicopter fire.

...

Adnan Abid, a taxi driver, described how he escaped in his father's orange and white Brazilian taxi with his family. They took side roads out of the city and did not stop until they reached Baghdad.

"I saw nine people on the roof, and the helicopter shot them all dead," he says. "On the way to Baghdad I saw bodies in the car. I couldn't help them because the Americans were shooting everyone."

Date killed? before 13th
Total 19 (in house)+ 1 (5-yr-old by sniper) +1 (old man by helicopter);
9 (on roof by helicopter) =29
Civilian / Fighter [at least 2]
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Fudella is one of tens of thousands of refugees to have fled the besieged city of Fallujah, where a US assault left 600 dead last week. The victims include hundreds of women and children, according to hospital and clinic records in Fallujah, before a cease-fire was carved out over the weekend.

Date range? 5th-13th?
Total 600
Civilian / Fighter 'The victims include hundreds of women and children'
Selected info, comment, analysis

With a US Apache helicopter hovering above, Kadher Fudella took her children and began to run. She did not stop until she reached the highway, along with scores of other refugees, flagging down cars headed to Baghdad.

"My children tried to run away and the helicopters chased them," says Ms. Fudella, breaking into tears. "Families were running through the streets.... Windows were broken, and many, many people were dead."

...

Back in Baghdad, Fallujah's refugees are still reeling from the violence they witnessed last week. As many as 60,000 - one fifth of the city - may have poured into Baghdad since Friday, taking shelter in private homes and mosques. US forces say civilians have been caught in the crossfire, but that their primary mission was to "take out insurgents."

...

The women say they hid with their children in their homes from Wednesday until fleeing over the weekend, while many of the men stayed behind. "I have not seen my husband since Friday," says Turka Hashim, a crying baby in her arms. Ms. Hashim says she believes he stayed in Fallujah to fight. In fact, many of the men in the shelter displayed anger.

Take Hamid Ali. He says he only came to the Sunni Islamic Party headquarters in Baghdad to find a safe place to relocate his family.

He arrived late Sunday evening, having fled by foot and later by car. "I only came here to drop off my family. I will be going back to Fallujah to help the resistance as soon as possible." Ali was surrounded by several Fallujan men in their 20s and 30s who nodded in agreement.

...

"We have no hope. Half of our family is in Fallujah, and we don't know anything about them," says Mr. Abid's wife, Hakima. "There's darkness everywhere."

The family fell silent, until their son Mohammed Adnan added his take, that the US has only magnified the problems. "Before it was a small, specific group that fought the USA," he says. "Now it is every family. They all want revenge."

US/military viewpoint

Coalition forces have disputed claims that attacks have killed or wounded many civilians, though they say the number is impossible to verify. They have reported that most of the victims were probably participating in the insurgency.

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Indymedia (UK)
-
Lee Gordon (Transcription of Lee's radio interview with Mindy Ran)
-
NO CEASEFIRE IN FALLUJA

Specific incidents / deaths [LG] On the question of the cease-fire, for instance, it was called on Friday just in time for noontime prayer, about 12 � 12.30. About a half an hour after cease-fire had been called I was standi9ng outside the hospital and I saw an Iraqi man of 28 years old who was an Iraqi nurse come from another city to try and help people in Fallujah, shot through the liver by a sniper as he was unloading an ambulance. He was dragged into the hospital and they tried to operate on him and sew up his wound. They had no painkillers, only the painkillers, um the parecetamol, that I could give them from my own bag. Um and we were told that unless we could get him to a hospital in Baghdad within an half an hour, he would die. Of course there was no way out of the city, and he did die.
Date killed? 9th
Total 1 (28-yr-old male nurse)
Civilian / Fighter 1/0
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

MR Now, we have been hearing there is a cease-fire. Is there a cease-fire in effect?

LG No, quite the opposite. Effectively they are fighting. The US has snipers around the city from the West into the center, in houses all around the main streets and are picking off people on the streets, cars and ambulances.

MR Do you mean they are actually firing on ambulances?

LG Yeah, I mean, indeed. My colleague and I and some international volunteers from the United Kingdom and the US had to take over the responsibility for getting patients out of bomb damaged hospitals to one of the remaining make-shift hospitals, which is actually a converted doctors surgery effectively � because the ambulances were being shot at by the US forces. In fact, my colleague who is not very far away from me at the moment, was in one of the last functioning ambulances in Fallujah when he was sniped driving. I think they fired four or five rounds at it, just missing him, I think the ambulance was destroyed. When we left, that was this morning, that was the last ambulance � more or less � in Fallujah.

...

MR How many people have you ferried out?

LG Let's see we took out � uh 14 today; a kid who had half his face shot off, a boy of four who had his arm and leg blown off, a pregnant woman, some � there was a man, a dying man, whose leg had come off � I suppose about 18, 19 people. You know we are working from a car, we have one old battered Japanese saloon, we managed to get a hold of a bus, um which we took out yesterday. But we are now down to our last 20, 27 dollars so I think we will be back in the car. So, you know, we take what we can.

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
-
Author
-
Title
New York Times
-
Jeffrey Gettleman
-
MARINES IN FALLUJA STILL FACE AND RETURN RELENTLESS FIRE
Specific incidents / deaths

On Saturday, the men of Darkside fought house to house in Falluja, quickly clearing city blocks. They killed 12 insurgents. They captured many more.

...

That same day [Sunday], Brent Bourgeois, a 20-year-old lance corporal from Kenner, La., said he had seen an American helicopter fire a missile at a man with a slingshot.

"Crazy, huh?" the corporal said.

Date killed? 10th, 11th
Total 12+1
[presumed killed]
Civilian / Fighter 0/13
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis  
US/military viewpoint

"We were cruising," said Maj. Andrew Petrucci, the battalion's executive officer. "We had tons of momentum."

But the battalion, along with the other marines in the city, abruptly got the call to halt that day. Their orders were to stop offensive operations, which include patrols. They are allowed to shoot at anyone with a gun. And they have orders to shoot any male of military age on the streets after dark, armed or not. But the marines are not allowed to pursue insurgents through Falluja's densely packed neighborhoods or to seize any more of the city.

Many marines said it was like snatching a bone from a dog, midmeal.

"Marines like to be on the offensive," said Staff Sgt. Steve Marcil. "We're not like the Army. Our job is to move."

...

Colonel Baggott said the insurgents were increasingly well organized. But when asked if he knew who the insurgents were, which groups or alliances, he paused for a moment.

"We don't," he said.

Many of the marines staring over the low brick walls expect the peace talks to falter and the siege to resume.

"If it's all about the diplomatic process," said Lt. Don Bergin, his face a mix of dust and sweat, "you're looking at the end of the diplomatic process."

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Agence France-Presse
-
FALLUJAH GETS ANOTHER 48 HOURS OF PEACE
Specific incidents / deaths

Nine Iraqis and at least one marine were killed on Tuesday as violence flared in Fallujah despite the truce.

Date killed? 13th
Total 9
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Hospital sources put the Iraqi death toll since the launch of the offensive on Fallujah at more than 600 killed and 1 250 wounded.

Date range? 5th-13th
Total 600+
[1250 wounded]
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

"The truce has been extended by 48 hours starting today at 9.00am (0500 GMT), upon the agreement of the two sides," said Fouad Rawi, a senior official of the Iraqi Islamic Party which has been leading mediation talks.

"It is mainly meant to allow the reopening of the Fallujah General Hospital and the Jordanian Hospital which had been forced to close because of the siege imposed by the marines," he said.

Rawi said the city's two major hospitals had been "forced to shut down after US marines blocked roads leading to them, including a bridge which had been the only way to reach the general hospital".

'It is mainly meant to allow the reopening of the Fallujah General Hospital'

"Doctors, nurses and equipment could not reach them, so they were closed down," he said.

"Now, the 48 hours will help the staff reach the hospitals to reopen them and sterilise them."

...

"Yesterday, there were a few breaches by the marine snipers and tanks which entered a neighborhood. It is regrettable because we need calm to work toward a final, comprehensive solution," he said.

"We are working to help the political solution prevail over the military solution."

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
-
Author
-
Title
Aljazeera
-
8:53 Makka Time, 5:53 GMT
-
US AIRCRAFT FIRES ON FALLUJA
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis  
US/military viewpoint

A US occupation military aircraft has fired artillery rounds at resistance fighters in Falluja, a Marine officer said on condition of anonymity.

Early on Wednesday, the AC 130 gunship fired 105 and 40 mm rounds at two buildings used to ambush Marines on Tuesday when rocket-propelled grenades disabled two Marine armoured amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs), the marine officer said.

"We're using defensive fire on known enemy positions to protect our Marines," the officer said.

The two buildings were inside Falluja's southern industrial area which is under Marine control.

The Marines denied the strikes marked an end to its halt on offensive operations in Falluja while the US-installed Governing Council engaged in truce talks with members of the city.

News Source
-
Author
-
Title
New York Times
-
Christine Hauser
-
WAR REPORTS FROM CIVILIANS STIR UP IRAQIS AGAINST U.S.
Specific incidents / deaths

The memories were so raw that the boy's words tumbled out of his mouth on Tuesday, a day after he survived an American attack that destroyed his house outside Falluja.

"The house shuddered," said Haider Abdel-Wahab, a 6-year-old taken to a Baghdad hospital after being dug out of the rubble. "The room turned red."

His father died of a bullet wound to the head and his mother was shot and killed while hanging laundry, he said. After that, he said, a "missile fell on us." His brothers were crushed, but he said he was dug out by neighbors using shovels.

...

Jo Wilding, a volunteer who accompanied other foreigners and Iraqis carrying medical supplies to a clinic in Falluja on Saturday, gave her account of civilians caught up the offensive.

"Two children had head wounds from bullets, both died," she said in Baghdad after her return. "In another room was an old woman with a bullet wound - she was still holding a white flag."

She described helping Iraqis collect bodies. One was a dead gunman. Another was an elderly man, lying dead face down at his gate. In the house, she said, "girls were screaming, saying 'Baba, baba.' "

Date killed? 12th or earlier (parents of Haider Abdel-Wahab) 12th (his two brothers), and possibly earlier;
10th and prior (Jo Wilding's account)
Total 2 (parents) + 2 (brothers) + 2 (children) + 1 (elderly man) + 1 (gunman)=7
Civilian / Fighter 6/1
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

The chaos of battle complicates the task of those seeking the truth.

"At the present time, because of the security situation, our movements are rather limited," said a Human Rights Watch researcher, Hania Mufti. "One needs to verify the information directly. There are eyewitnesses that need to be interviewed, and people who we need to talk for forensic evidence that may be available.

"One needs to see whether they were unarmed civilians going about their business, what kind of force the United States was using, and the circumstances surrounding the killing of civilians in Falluja," she said.

Jo Wilding, a volunteer who accompanied other foreigners and Iraqis carrying medical supplies to a clinic in Falluja on Saturday, gave her account of civilians caught up the offensive.

...

Four-year-old Ali Nasser Fadil lies in a Baghdad hospital, his eyes wide and fixed on a spot on the ceiling. Before reaching the hospital, his left leg was crudely amputated by Iraqi doctors. A deep gash across his groin and upper thigh was barely stitched up when he was brought in.

"He was in danger of dying," said Dr. Alessandro Bartolini, who had to amputate Ali's left hand. "It is blast injuries," he said.

Ali's father said he moved his children to their grandfather's house on the outskirts of Falluja for safety, but the area was hit in an American air strike. "When I reached my child," he said, "it was as if he was sleeping."

Elsewhere, 10-year-old Waed Joda spoke for his father, who wounded by shrapnel. The bandage swathing the man's shoulder and arm was soaked through with blood.

"American snipers shot at us as we were trying to flee Falluja," he said. "We were in the car, we jumped out and tried to take cover in some shops. Falluja has become destroyed."

 

US/military viewpoint

"The Arab press, in particular Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, are portraying their actions as purposely targeting civilians, and we absolutely do not do that, and I think everybody knows that."

News Source
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Author
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Title
Ekklesia
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CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS REPORT KILLINGS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN BY US TROOPS IN FALLUJAH
Specific incidents / deaths

Christian peacemakers in Iraq have reported harrowing scenes including the killing of women and children by US forces following an overnight humanitarian mission to Fallujah.

...

The volunteers saw several older women and two children arrive with numerous gunshot wounds. The two children died.

...

The volunteers also retrieved bodies of Iraqis killed. One body of an unarmed man lying face-down in the road had only a small bullet entry hole in his back, but massive abdominal exit' wounds, indicative of high-velocity bullets. When the volunteers turned the body over to reveal the wound, children in the nearest house began screaming and crying "Baba! Baba! (Daddy! Daddy!)"

The volunteers loaded the body into a pickup truck and evacuated the wife and children. The family said their father had just stepped out of house when he was shot. The family had no way to reach the body in the street before the volunteers secured permission from the Marines.

The volunteer team recovered two additional bodies lying near a U.S. checkpoint, but abandoned a completely burnt third body, due to outbursts of gunfire and the Marines' return fire. "We don't know if that is friendly or hostile fire, so we have to respond," the soldiers said.

 

Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Hospital workers reported that 518 Iraqis had been killed by U.S. fire by Sunday, including at least 157 women and 146 children. Of the children, one hundred were under age twelve and of those, 46 were under age five. More than 1,200 had been wounded.

Date range? 5th-11th
['by Sunday']
Total 518
[1200+ wounded]
Civilian / Fighter [at least] 303 civilian (157 women + 146 children)
Selected info, comment, analysis

Iraqi doctors and international volunteers assisting Doctors Without Borders entered the city on Saturday, April 10 in a bus loaded with medical supplies from agencies in Baghdad. The city had been under siege by US troops for six days following the lynching of four U.S. security agents.

Volunteers assisting Doctors Without Borders in Fallujah reported that U.S. Marine snipers were "shooting at anyone who moves".

...

The makeshift medical centre has no blankets or anaesthesia.

Exhausted doctors struggled to respond to the constant streams of wounded people.

...

The volunteers saw one man who burned from head to foot, and another who was bleeding from several wounds.

The men said a cluster bomb had caused their injuries.

One of the volunteers accompanied an ambulance crew to pick up a woman going into premature labour. On the way, U.S. snipers reportedly began firing at the ambulance. The ambulance turned off its sirens, then its lights, but the soldiers continued firing.

The ambulance began backing away from the soldiers, but they continued firing and blew out the vehicle's tire. The crew escaped without injury, but they were unable to reach the woman.

 

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
Reuters
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03:24 PM ET
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Gleb Bryanski
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IRAQ CLERIC OFFERS PEACE TALKS, U.S. FORCES POISED
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
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In Falluja, Iraqi mediators said they had extended a much-violated truce for 48 hours.

They said they had hammered out a deal under which Iraqi police would return to duty and U.S. forces would withdraw. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
Middle East Online
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Last Updated 2004-04-14 14:28:04
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FOUR DEAD IN IRAQ MORTAR ATTACK IN CROWDED MARKET IN MOSUL, FIVE KILLED IN FALLUJAH DESPITE DECLARED CEASEFIRE.
Specific incidents / deaths

Five Iraqis were killed and three wounded in clashes between US troops and insurgents in Fallujah Wednesday despite a declared 48-hour extension to a five-day-old truce, hospital sources said.

"We have five dead from the overnight shelling of Fallujah by the marines," Nasser Hussein, a paramedic at the Fallujah Medical Centre, said.

"Three more were brought in wounded this morning," he added.

Date killed? 13th-14th (overnight)
Total 5
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]  
Date range?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
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US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
Associated Press
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INTENSE BATTLES CONTINUE IN FALLUJAH
Specific incidents / deaths

 

Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries]

Some 880 Iraqis have been killed this month. Among those are more than 600 Iraqis - mostly civilians - killed in Fallujah, according to the city hospital's director.

Date range? 5th-13th?
Total 600
Civilian / Fighter 'mostly civilians'
Selected info, comment, analysis U.S. warplanes and helicopter gunships firing heavy machine-guns, rockets and cannons hammered gunmen as a truce in besieged Fallujah was strained by increasingly intense battles.

...

The Marines called a halt to offensive operations on Friday to allow negotiations between U.S.-allied Iraqis and Fallujah representatives in an attempt to ease the violence. Gunmen in the city called a cease-fire Sunday. But Marines have been responding to guerrilla fire - and striking gunmen who appear about to attack.

Insurgents on Wednesday offered the Iraqi equivalent of $7,000 (U.S.) for anyone who kills Mouwafak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, after he called for Fallujah's residents to handover militants to the United States.

"We announce a bounty of 10 million Iraqi dinar for whoever brings the head of this pig," the statement said.

US/military viewpoint

"I think they are absolutely taking advantage" of the truce, said Lieutenant-Colonel Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, deployed on the southern side of the city.

News Source
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Author
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Title
Amnesty International
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Iraq: Civilians continue to pay the price
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries] Half of at least 600 people who died in the recent fighting between Coalition forces and insurgents in Falluja are said to have been civilians- many of them women and children.
Date range?  
Total 'at least' 600
Civilian / Fighter 'half' civilian
Selected info, comment, analysis

"Civilians continue to pay the ultimate price. This tragedy must be stopped and those responsible for civilian deaths must be held accountable," said Amnesty International

"It is clear from recent events in Falluja that the parties to the conflict have disregarded international humanitarian law. A full, independent and impartial investigation is needed now," said Amnesty International.

US/military viewpoint  
News Source
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Author
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Title
Baltimore Sun
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Mark Matthews
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LIKENING IRAQ, VIETNAM 'FALSE,' PRESIDENT SAYS
Specific incidents / deaths  
Date killed?  
Total  
Civilian / Fighter  
Cumulative deaths [and injuries] There have also been more than 800 Iraqi deaths in Falluja alone since April 5, local hospital officials said.
Date range? 5th-14th
Total 800+
Civilian / Fighter  
Selected info, comment, analysis

The president used more than a quarter of the one-hour time allotted to a news conference to deliver an unusually long opening statement defending what he called America's "historic mission" in Iraq, saying that country could become either peaceful or a terrorist haven that would threaten the United States and the world.

The consequences of failure, he said, are "unthinkable."

"Now is the time, and Iraq is the place, in which the enemies of the civilized world are testing the will of the civilized world," Bush said in the statement. "We must not waver."

...

Pressed at one point on whether he had made any mistake since the war began, Bush appeared taken aback and said he could not think of one.

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Bush is expected to clear up one uncertainty soon by naming the envoy who will replace L. Paul Bremer III as the top American official in Iraq.

The post is reported likely to go to veteran diplomat John D. Negroponte, currently the U.S. representative to the United Nations, who will nominated as the first U.S. ambassador in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

Negroponte has broad experience serving in many areas of the world but not in the Middle East. His tenure as U.S. ambassador to Honduras during the 1980s U.S.-backed war against Nicaragua's leftist government remains controversial. Critics accuse him of ignoring widespread Honduran human rights abuses, a charge he rejects.

...

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday that because of the deteriorating security situation in the country, he is not planning at this point to send in a large team, raising doubts about how much of a role the United Nations will play in planning for national assembly elections set for December or January and the preparation of a new Iraqi constitution.

US/military viewpoint  

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