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Falluja 'a horror' after U.S.-led offensive
Long road ahead for residents of shattered city
FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- Mahmoud Zubari and his family fled their home in Falluja
after it was bombed and his 13-year-old son was killed.
Zubari, his wife and their remaining eight children, ages 2 to 16, spent the
next 20 days in the house of a friend while the U.S.-led onslaught to drive out
insurgents in the city got under way.
Last week, the family was picked up by the Iraqi Red Crescent, under Marine
escort, and taken to the humanitarian group's compound in the city. Tuesday, the
family returned to the home they took sanctuary in.
"All the wealth will not bring back my son, but now I have to think of the
future for the rest of my children," said Zubari's wife, Selma. "What will
become of us?"
That is a sentiment shared by many residents of the shattered city, which
remains under curfew and where pockets of fighting continue to rage. Some homes
in the city have begun posting signs in both Arabic and English that read,
"Family inside."
The Red Crescent compound houses more than 100 residents who became stranded
there after a 24-hour curfew was put back in place last week by U.S. forces in
eastern Falluja. Marine commanders had previously implemented a curfew between 3
p.m. and 7 a.m.
Fuad Kubaysi, one of those staying at the Red Crescent compound, said, "What has
happened to Falluja is a horror beyond anything imaginable. We don't want it
anymore. Let them have it. Let whomever wants it have it. We cannot ever call
this city home again."
Red Crescent volunteer Sabri Abd Almalek said the restrictions imposed by the
Marines are hindering their humanitarian efforts to bring relief to families
throughout the city.
"We are stuck here," he said. "We came here to help the people, treat the sick,
and they won't let us leave -- only when we have permission."
The first Red Crescent convoy arrived in the city Friday and began distributing
food and medical supplies. But the round-the-clock curfew has sharply limited
those efforts.
Marine Col. Craig Tucker, the commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 7,
said the curfew was reimposed because of sporadic fighting throughout the
eastern sector of the city and continued security concerns.
The Red Crescent is allowed to work with Marine escort. Marines are escorting
and helping the group identify families in need and provide them with food,
water and medical supplies. Women and children who want to leave the city are
escorted out. Military-age men have to be screened before they are escorted home
or out of the city.
Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, a battalion commander with the combat team in charge of
northeastern Falluja, said Marines have so far identified 20 families in his
sector, but there may be up to 50. He said families and men who passed the
screening and wanted to return to their homes in the city would have their homes
first searched for weapons and possible insurgents who might have taken
sanctuary in them. The homes would then be marked for food and water
distribution.
As for Zubari, he has been told he will receive compensation for his home being
destroyed. In addition to losing his 13-year-old son, he said, his brother was
killed -- and according to men in the neighborhood, he was buried in the garden
of a nearby house.
CNN's Jane Arraf contributed to this report.
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Falluja 'a horror' after U.S.-led offensive
Long road ahead for residents of shattered city
Tough #@($, Raghead.
We should have pulled a Saddam and just gassed the whole city (as he did the
Kurds).
Ahhhhhh, yes. Some things about Saddam I DO miss!
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Falluja 'a horror' after U.S.-led offensive
Long road ahead for residents of shattered city
Yes, the horror of the war crimes committed by the terrorists in Fallujah
has been exposed. You are correct.
--
22: 40. Permission to take up arms is given to those against whom war is
made, because they have been wronged and Allah, indeed, has power to help
them. - Holy Qur'an
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