U.S.-Led Forces Tighten Grip, Draw Complaints [View All]

[Rose Siding]

SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces tightened their grip on a rebel-held city on Sunday in the first step of a campaign to take back all of Iraq but ignited complaints about the cost in lives and suffering.

Aid organizations said they were concerned about a lack of water and power in the city of Samarra and the fate of hundreds of families forced to flee. Questions arose also about the number of civilians killed.

A man who gave his name only as Abu Qa'qa, and who said he had fled Samarra on Sunday, told reporters in Baghdad he had seen stray dogs picking at corpses in the street. He said he had seen several incidents of civilians being killed.
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Firdoos al-Ubadi, an Iraqi Red Crescent spokesman, said her group and other aid organizations had received a letter from Iraq's Human Rights Ministry describing the situation in Samarra as a tragedy and calling for emergency assistance.

The ministry was not available to confirm the letter.

Iraq's interior minister, who visited Samarra on Saturday, said no civilians had been killed in the day-and-a-half blitz, a statement that angered some residents who said they had lost family members, including children, in the fighting.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6397465