By Aref Youssef
A total of 28 civilians were killed and 200 others injured in the western Iraqi city of Anbar since the start of military operations there three weeks ago, a senior medical official told Anadolu Agency.
"Most of the casualties were caused by the army shelling of homes, government buildings and worship places in the city," said Abdel-Sattar Lawas, director of Fallujah General Hospital.
The tally, however, does not include armed tribesmen killed in clashes with army forces, he said.
The predominantly-Sunni Anbar province, of which Fallujah is a major city, has been rocked by violence since Iraqi security forces dismantled a months-old anti-government sit-in outside the provincial capital Ramadi in late December.
The sit-in was a protest against perceived anti-Sunni discrimination by the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Mohamed al-Bagari, spokesman of the anti-government protest camp in Fallujah, said that clashes were still raging between armed tribesmen and army forces in the city.
He said that two tribesmen were killed and ten others injured in clashes between the two sides on Friday.
Al-Bagari cited "difficulties" in moving the corpses of the victims to hospital, leaving residents with no other option but to bury their dead in their backyards.
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