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Once
voting is over, US forces would fiercely attack Iraqi resistance
bastions, Iraqis say
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By
Samir Haddad, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
November 2 (IslamOnline.net) – Residents of Iraqi cities of Fallujah
and Ramadi are fleeing their homes, in light of continuous US air
strikes and preparations for a massive onslaught Iraqi sources and
analysts believe would come directly on the heels of Tuesday’s US
presidential elections, regardless of who wins.
“A
massive onslaught on Fallujah and Ramadi is expected immediately after
the US presidential elections. It was put off no to affect the
polls,” Mohammed Bashar Al-Faydhi, spokesman for the Association of
Muslim Scholars told IslamOnline.net.
He
cited the failure of US occupation forces to invade the resistance
bastion of Fallujah last April, as a strong reason to wait till after
the elections.
“That
is why they [US forces] are concerned they might fail once again,
negatively affecting the elections.”
In
April, at least 700 Iraqis,
mostly
women and children,
were killed and 1,500 others injured in Fallujah when US occupation
forces imposed a tight siege on the town and intensified air strikes
on its densely-populated areas.
Ramadi
Gets Ready
Ramadi,
another symbol of Iraqi resistance, is also gripped by a state of
cautiousness and anticipation for a battle against US forces expected
to be die-hard, to put it mildly.
The
western Baghdad city is a usual scene of daily clashes between Iraqi
resistance groups and the US occupation forces, most recent of which
led to the killing of six Iraqis and the wounding of 15 others Monday.
“The
city’s eastern entrances were totally sealed off due to continued
clashes and US attacks on the city suburbs,” Mahmoud Al-Delaimi, a
Ramadi resident told IOL.
He
added the city has become almost deserted, with only the resistance
fighters left behind.
Eight
US soldiers
were killed and nine others were wounded in Iraqi resistance attacks
on October 30, in the Al-Anbar Province, where both Fallujah and
Ramadi belong.
Fortifications
Iraqi
resistance fighters in Ramadi have been working on the double to
reinforce their positions, getting ready for a battle everyone seems
sure it would come.
“The
resistance has been stockpiling food supplies and taking
fortifications as well as planting mines in all routes leading to the
city,” Mohamed Elian, a city resident said.
He
added the resistance fighters have also been digging trenches and
reinforcing positions, poising for die-hard battles against the
occupation forces.
According
to observers, Ramadi, known for its tribal relations with Iraq’s
main resistance bastion Fallujah, has been coming under daily US
attacks because of resistance attacks launched from the restive city
against US forces.
Over
the expected US offensive, hundreds of Iraqi families have fled the
city to a refugee camp in the neighboring Habaniya area.
“The
refugee camp only has 250 tents, while displaced Iraqis are over than
700 families,” Elian added.
Negotiations
Continue
Negotiations
between the US-backed interim government and delegates from the
Fallujah collapsed in mid-October after [Iraqi Premier Iyad] Allawi
threatened the city with invasion if it did not surrender Iraq's most
wanted man, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.
Fallujah
people have repeatedly maintained that they
did
not harbor the
wanted man.
The
discussions were resumed Wednesday, after Allawi agreed to a
last-ditch bid by the National Council (interim parliament) to reach a
peaceful solution to a military standoff.
“Negotiations
are continuing,” Nassir Aref, member of the Fallujah delegation told
IOL.
“We
can not guarantee foreign fighters, if they are in the city, would
leave the place as the Iraqi government stipulates.”
A
source at the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office has earlier stressed to
IOL that talks are continuing but with no solid results.
Humanitarian
Crisis
On
the other hand, the humanitarian situation in Fallujah has been
deteriorating.
“The
humanitarian situation is gravely deteriorating in light of the
displacement of thousands of families from the city where large
numbers of them are living on the roads to escape the hell of the US
imminent offensive,” Ismail Al-Delaimi of the Fallujah general
hospital told IOL.
“The
approach of the winter season has caused the situation of thousands of
people to deteriorate.”
“Dysentery
and diseases of children have been on the rise at a time we suffer a
shortage of medicines.”
Director
of the Fallujah general hospital Rafae Jiyad Al-Esawi was quoted
November 1, as saying that grave diseases have been increasing among
the Iraqis over the past period, foremost among such diseases are the
intensive dysentery, food poisoning and abortion.
Fleeing
Fallujah
On
Tuesday, November 2, hundreds of people fled Fallujah after a heavy
night of US air strikes, while an Iraqi cameraman working for Reuters
was killed during clashes in the nearby hotspot of Ramadi.
“There
are a bunch of cars leaving the city right now, about 400 cars backed
up,” said US marine gunnery sergeant Brett Turck told Agence France-Presse
(AFP). “I don't know if it is a mass exodus or regular traffic
flows.”
The
movement came after the US military unleashed an air raid on the
flashpoint city west of Baghdad in what has become a near daily
bombardment.
US
ground troops have encircled Fallujah since mid-October, and Allawi
issued an ultimatum to the city Sunday to surrender what he insisted
were “insurgents holed up inside” or face an all-out military
assault.
Violent
clashes flared Monday in the sister city of Ramadi, to the west of
Fallujah, leaving at least six people dead, including a cameraman
working for the London-based Reuters news agency.
Dhia
Najim, a 57-year-old freelance video cameraman, was apparently shot
dead by a sniper while on assignment for Reuters, one of its reporters
in Baghdad said.
It
was unclear whether the sniper had been an Iraqi fighter or a US
soldier.
The
US military is known to have stationed marksmen in Ramadi as it fights
to control the city.
