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Clashes and Shelling as 140,000 Flee Iraq's Anbar
[An Nahar] Violence in parts of Anbar province held by anti-government fighters killed three people as the United Nations...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... warned on Friday of Iraq's worst displacement since its brutal 2006-08 sectarian conflict. More than 140,000 people have fled their homes in the mostly-desert province, which shares a border with Syria, since unrest erupted in late December as security forces and their tribal allies have been locked in a deadly standoff with bully boys, including those affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL). Diplomats and foreign leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... have urged Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... to pursue political measures to undercut support for bully boys, but with an election looming in April, Iraqi Prime Minister  Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... has taken a hard line. Security forces have mounted a massive operation to retake parts of the Anbar scenic provincial capital Ramadi being held by anti-government fighters, and for days have engaged in festivities and exchanged mortar fire. Shelling which began early Friday into the Ramadi neighborhoods of Malaab and Albu Faraj, both out of the government's control, killed two people and maimed 30 others, security and medical officials said. Government forces and turbans also engaged in firefights on Thursday evening in Ramadi, but no casualties were reported. But a one person was killed and seven others maimed in heavy shelling late on Thursday in Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperityor a really nice place to raise your kids... a former bully boy bastion also west of Storied Baghdad that is entirely held by bully boys. Fallujah residents blamed the army for the shelling, but defense officials said the military was not responsible. Parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah have for weeks been in the hands of anti-government fighters, including members of ISIL. It marks the first time turbans have exercised such open control in Iraqi cities since the peak of the violence that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The government often says it is fighting al-Qaeda while Fallujah residents and tribal sheikhs have said ISIL has tightened its grip on the city. But other bully boy groups and anti-government tribes have also been involved in battling government forces in Anbar. On Friday, the UN warned that the continued unrest had sparked Iraq's worst displacement since the country's bloody sectarian war from 2006 to 2008 which left tens of thousands dead. More than 140,000 had fled their homes since the conflict began, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) front man Peter Kessler said, including more than 65,000 in the past week alone. "Many civilians are unable to leave conflict-affected areas where food and fuel are now in short supply," he said. Thousands of displaced have fled to Storied Baghdad and other nearby provinces, but some have traveled as far as the northern Kurdish region, according to UN. "People are reportedly without money for food and lack suitable clothing for the rainy conditions. Children are not in school and sanitary conditions, particularly for women, are inadequate," said Kessler. Fighting originally erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp. The violence then spread to Fallujah, as turbans moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew. Posted by: Fred 2014-01-25 |
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