5 Iraqis killed, 25 injured in 48 hours of Fallujah shelling

By Suleiman al-Qubeisi

Five civilians were killed and 25 injured in fresh artillery shelling by the Iraqi army on Fallujah in the western Anbar province over the past two days, spokesman for the city's general hospital said Sunday.

The Fallujah general hospital received five bodies of civilians and 25 injured people, including women and children, over the past 48 hours, Wissam al-Essawi told Anadolu Agency, following artillery and mortar shelling on several districts.

Al-Essawi said that the Fallujah general hospital itself was hit during the "indiscriminate" shelling and that the building sustained considerable damage.

The Iraqi army has been waging a major military operation in the restive Anbar province since December, of which Fallujah is a major city, with the stated aim of flushing out Al-Qaeda-allied militants.

Many local Sunni tribes opposed to Iraq's Shiite-dominated government, however, continue to voice anger over the operation's mounting civilian death toll.

A 72-hour unilateral ceasefire announced by the Iraqi army in Fellujah had expired on Tuesday.

A tribal source told Anadolu Sunday that armed tribesmen seized control over a military checkpoint in northern Fallujah after three hours of fighting, which concluded with the military forces retreating outside the city's borders.

Violence also continues to ravage the provincial capital, Ramadi. A tribal source in the city said that ongoing violent confrontations have erupted between armed tribesmen and government troops in two districts following a mortar shelling earlier in the day.

The source added that government forces are now concentrated near the city of Al-Karma.

Moreover, a security official told AA that one civilian was killed and two injured when a car bomb had gone off Saturday evening in western Ramadi.

Army officials were not immediately available for comment.

Hundreds have been killed and injured since violence broke out in Anbar's two key cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, according to government estimates. Tens of thousands have also been reportedly displaced due to the violence.

englishnews@aa.com.tr