lennart
08-04-04, 17:38
U.S. Forces Fire At Aid Convoys To Fallujah
BAGHDAD, April 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S. soldiers opened fire on aid convoys taking relief supplies to Fallujah, sealed off by occupation forces for the fourth consecutive day, eyewitnesses said.
The convoys, carrying foodstuffs and medicine, were forced to stop in Ramadi to the west of Baghdad, eyewitnesses told IslamOnline.net.
Troops in armored vehicles attempted to stop the convoy of cars and pedestrians from reaching the western town where U.S. marines have met ferocious resistance in a two-day-old offensive.
But the U.S. contingents were overwhelmed as residents of villages west of the capital came to the convoy's assistance, hurling insults and stones at the beleaguered troops, Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Two U.S. Humvees attempted to stop the marchers but were forced to drive off as residents joined the marchers.
U.S. troops armed with machine guns and backed up by armor again blocked the highway further west, but were forced to let the Iraqis past as they came under a hail of stones.
The cross-community demonstration of support for Fallujah had been organized by Baghdad Sunni and Shiite scholars amid reports that the death toll in the town had reached 105 since Tuesday evening.
“No Sunnis, no Shiites, yes for Islamic unity,” the marchers chanted. “We are Sunni and Shiite brothers and will never sell our country”.
Sunni mosques in Baghdad called for donations of blood and humanitarian aid to the Fallujah inhabitants, drawing response form thousands of people – all sharing fury over continued U.S. military occupation of the country.
The incident came one day after International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged U.S. troops to allow unfettered access to the city's hospital.
“Access to (Fallujah's) general hospital must be open and the wounded and the sick must be helped to reach it,” ICRC spokeswoman Nada Dumani was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.
The only hospital in the city was shelled Monday, April 5, by U.S. helicopters. Doctors said the situation is extremely serious as some of the injured have bled to death.
Iraqi casualties were “mostly women and children”, as the makeshift hospital could not receive any more victims, medical sources in the town said.
“We are treating the wounded and then asking them to leave,” one doctor said.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-04/08/article04.shtml
BAGHDAD, April 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S. soldiers opened fire on aid convoys taking relief supplies to Fallujah, sealed off by occupation forces for the fourth consecutive day, eyewitnesses said.
The convoys, carrying foodstuffs and medicine, were forced to stop in Ramadi to the west of Baghdad, eyewitnesses told IslamOnline.net.
Troops in armored vehicles attempted to stop the convoy of cars and pedestrians from reaching the western town where U.S. marines have met ferocious resistance in a two-day-old offensive.
But the U.S. contingents were overwhelmed as residents of villages west of the capital came to the convoy's assistance, hurling insults and stones at the beleaguered troops, Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Two U.S. Humvees attempted to stop the marchers but were forced to drive off as residents joined the marchers.
U.S. troops armed with machine guns and backed up by armor again blocked the highway further west, but were forced to let the Iraqis past as they came under a hail of stones.
The cross-community demonstration of support for Fallujah had been organized by Baghdad Sunni and Shiite scholars amid reports that the death toll in the town had reached 105 since Tuesday evening.
“No Sunnis, no Shiites, yes for Islamic unity,” the marchers chanted. “We are Sunni and Shiite brothers and will never sell our country”.
Sunni mosques in Baghdad called for donations of blood and humanitarian aid to the Fallujah inhabitants, drawing response form thousands of people – all sharing fury over continued U.S. military occupation of the country.
The incident came one day after International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged U.S. troops to allow unfettered access to the city's hospital.
“Access to (Fallujah's) general hospital must be open and the wounded and the sick must be helped to reach it,” ICRC spokeswoman Nada Dumani was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.
The only hospital in the city was shelled Monday, April 5, by U.S. helicopters. Doctors said the situation is extremely serious as some of the injured have bled to death.
Iraqi casualties were “mostly women and children”, as the makeshift hospital could not receive any more victims, medical sources in the town said.
“We are treating the wounded and then asking them to leave,” one doctor said.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-04/08/article04.shtml