FALLUJAH, Iraq
By Aref Youssef
Three Iraqi civilians were killedand 15 others were injured on Tuesday when the Iraqi army shelled homes and a public hospital in the city of Fallujah in the western province of al-Anbar, a medical official said.
Most of the casualties occurred in the artillery shelling of the residential areas in eastern Fallujah, Abdel-Sattar Luwas, the director of al-Fallujah General Hospital, told Anadolu Agency.
He said women and children were among the wounded.
Luwas added that three people were injured, meanwhile, when an artillery shell hit his hospital.
A tribal source told AA that Fallujah's eastern districts were still being shelled, adding that the shelling has triggered a residents' exodus from the city.
Iraqi authorities were not immediately available to comment on the reported shelling of the Fallujah homes.
The pro-dominantly Sunni province of Anbar has been rocked by clashes 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.
The dispersal came two days after Sunni lawmaker Ahmed al-Alwani, a prominent al-Maliki opponent, was arrested during a raid on his Ramadi home. Six people were killed in the raid, including al-Alwani's brother.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
