Clashes in Iraq's Anbar persist as residents flee hometown

Clashes and bombardments continued Saturday in Iraq's western province of Anbar, as hundreds of families left their homes in battlefields in the provincial capital city of Ramadi and the restive city of Fallujah, a local police source said. The Iraqi security forces stationed around Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, carried out artillery and mortar attacks against positions allegedly for militants linked to al-Qaida in several neighborhoods in the southern and eastern parts of the city, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attacks killed a civilian and wounded five others, while hundreds of families fled their homes in the city to nearby cities of the province, due to the continuing shelling on their homes, and for fear that the army and allied tribesmen may sweep the city in the coming days, the source said. The city has no electricity for several days as large parts of the electric power grid were destroyed by the bombings, the source added. "Fallujah is almost empty of its residents after most families were displaced out of the city, and most government institutions and market places and shops in the city were closed for fear of the bombings," the source said. Inside the besieged city, a number of well-armed al-Qaida militants and some gunmen from the local tribes have tighten their grip on central Fallujah, while other tribesmen allied to local government are controlling the rest of the city, he said. Separately, the helicopter gunships attacked in the morning positions of al-Qaida linked groups in areas of Neimiyah and Zouba in south of Fallujah, the source said without giving further details. In addition, the Iraqi army carried out mortar barrage on the town of Garma, some 10 km east of Fallujah, one of the rounds hit the guest house of a prominent tribal leader, killing two people and wounding three others, a local police source told Xinhua. In Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the battles continued in southern and eastern district of the city between the army troops backed by tribesmen and hundreds of gunmen, including al- Qaida militants, the source said. More families in Ramadi left their homes seeking safer places because of the fierce clashes in their neighborhoods, he added. The army helicopters carried out attacks on positions of al- Qaida gunmen outside the nearby town of Khaldiyah, some 30 km east of Ramadi, setting fire to several positions without knowing the exact casualties, the source added. Meanwhile, unknown gunmen attacked a convoy of 12 ambulances carrying medical supplies on a main road near the city of Ramadi, leaving four vehicles on fire, the source said, adding that an army force intervened to stop the attack and clashed with militants and save the rest of the convoy. Elsewhere, gunmen attacked an army convoy in the city of Haditha, some 200 km west of Baghdad, killing an officer and wounding two soldiers, the source said. Anbar province has been the scene of fierce clashes that flared up after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site outside Ramadi in late December last year. The Sunnis have been carrying out a year-long protest, accusing the Shiite-led government of marginalizing them and its Shiite- dominated security forces of indiscriminately arresting, torturing and killing their sons. Ten days ago, the UN warned that the humanitarian situation is critical in Anbar province, which has been witnessing violent clashes these days. "The UN agencies are working to identify the needs of the population and prepare medical supplies, food and non-food items for distribution if a safe passage can be ensured," Nickolay Mladenov, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, said in a statement.