Ramadi: Mass Exodus Amid Rising Tensions [View All]

[DoYouEverWonder]

16 June 2006

BAGHDAD - Residents of the city of Ramadi are fleeing to escape a worsening security situation as the United States military steps up operations against insurgents there.

People in Ramadi, capital of the western Iraqi province of Anbar, estimate that about 70 per cent of the city's population have fled in the last week, many of them holding white flags for fear of being shot at by Marine snipers.

Residents reported that US troops blasted messages through loudspeakers on June 13, telling them to leave and warning of house-to-house searches for weapons and militants.

The ongoing violence between US Marines and the insurgents, air strikes, and outages in the water, electricity and phone networks have already made life untenable. Ramadi residents say US troops regularly take over houses to fight the insurgents, and combatants on both sides have been seen using rooftops as sniper positions.

"The situation is difficult and tragic," said Samiaa Awwad, a 68-year-old who fled Ramadi to Jazeera, 20 kilometres east of Ramadi, with her daughters and sons.

http://electroniciraq.net/news/2387.shtml