Thousands of civilians have fled Falluja since last week after the Iraqi military intensified shelling in a new bid to crush a five-month old Sunni uprising, killing scores of people in what residents describe as massive indiscriminate bombardment, Reuters reported on Friday, May 16th.
More than 420,000 people have already escaped the two main cities of western Anbar province, Falluja and Ramadi, in fighting since the start of the year. Residents say the new pounding of Falluja’s residential neighborhoods appears aimed at driving out all remaining civilians in preparation for an all-out assault to defeat armed groups once and for all.
After several days of bombardment last week, the Iraqi military announced on Friday last week it was launching an assault on rural areas north, south and west of Falluja.
Since May 6 at least 55 people have been killed in Falluja, according to medical sources. The dead include civilians and fighters. More than 1,100 families – an estimated 6,000 people – fled the shelling, and more are still leaving, according to an Iraqi lawmaker, Liqa Wardi.
Falluja residents say the military is inflicting widespread damage, including using “barrel bombs” – powerful makeshift weapons made from high explosives, cement and metal parts packed into oil drums and dropped from helicopters.
Barrel bombs have gained notoriety in the region because of their use in neighboring Syria by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to flatten buildings in rebel-held areas. The Iraqi government has denied using them and says it is taking care to avoid mass casualties.
However, a mid-level security officer in Anbar province confirmed that barrel bombs had in fact been dropped in Falluja.
“It’s the scorched-earth policy – the destruction of a whole area. The army is less experienced in house-to-house fighting, which the rebels have mastered. That’s why they’ve resorted to this,” said the officer who has been involved in planning to retake the city, speaking on condition of anonymity.
By Monday, the army’s major effort to enter Falluja’s southern areas had failed and ground operations had once more stalled. Residents say the “barrel bombs” finally stopped. Maliki and his generals still vow they will retake the city.
Abu Hameed described witnessing a fierce explosion last week he was sure was a barrel bomb. The blast just 300 meters from his home convinced him staying inside the city was a death wish.
“It was something really extraordinary. The dust and the smoke. It looked like a nuclear bomb,” he said, adding his family raced out of the city within two hours of the explosion last Wednesday. “We ran like hell. “
Two other civilians interviewed by Reuters gave similar accounts of giant flames and mushrooming clouds that differed from the regular explosions they had witnessed caused by artillery, rockets and mortar fire.
“The commanders are telling their leaders what they want to hear not what they should hear, only to keep their positions and further their greed,” the mid-level officer said.
Qassim Fahdawi, the governor in Anbar until a year ago, who has been trying to mediate between Maliki and anti-government tribesmen, said no solution, political or military, is in sight.
“There is no serious progress,” he said. “The prime minister is getting wrong information. He is misled.”
At least 6,000 soldiers have died in the months of Anbar fighting, according to an Iraqi medical official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Diplomats say as many as 12,000 Iraqi soldiers have deserted.