11 killed and dozens wounded in Fallujah bombing

More than 40 people were killed or injured on Monday as a result of the government’s bombardment of the city of Fallujah, west of Iraq, Al-Ghad news site reported.

“Since this morning, the hospital has taken in 11 people who have been killed, including three women and five children, and 30 wounded, all of whom are civilians, as a result of the rocket shelling and artillery fire on Fallujah,” Rajab Ahmad, a medical official from Fallujah hospital told the news site.

Ahmad stated: “A number of the wounded are in critical condition, and the death toll might rise over the next few hours as we do not have suitable facilities for treating the wounded because of the government’s siege on the city and because the required medical aid has been prevented from entering the city.”

Fallujah has been under unprecedented air and rocket attack and heavy artillery fire since Friday morning resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.

Hundreds of families are waiting for a humanitarian corridor to open so they can escape.

Ali Nimaa, a member of the Islamic Relief Organization in Fallujah, said his organisation: “asked the forces surrounding the city why residential areas packed with people and with no elements of the Islamic State group are being bombed, and why they left the borders and outskirts of the city where there are IS militants.” He added that they have not received any answers.

“The residents we met said that the army, and militias supporting the army, are bombing residential areas after IS launches any counter-attacks,” he noted.

The Iraqi Defence Ministry did not comment on the Fallujah bombardment, but on Sunday it said in a statement that: “50 terrorists were killed and 32 bombs have also been dismantled, and ten vehicles and a rocket launcher have been confiscated during ongoing military operations in Anbar and Saladin provinces.”