Falluja emptied of women and children

uk.news.yahoo
If U.S.-led forces carry out a threatened full-scale assault on the Iraqi city of Falluja, they will find the rebel stonghold virtually deserted.
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"Three-quarters of the people have fled to other towns to avoid the American air strikes, especially the women and children," said Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a teacher.
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Bank employee Mohammed al-Alwani said: "Whoever looks around Falluja now can only feel saddness. The damage is so heavy the suburbs look like they were hit by an earthquake."

Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government, determined to pacify the country before elections in January, has vowed to retake Falluja by force unless it hands over al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers.

Known in Iraq as "The City of the Mosques", Falluja has a population of 300,000 and lies in the central Sunni Muslim heartlands that are the epicentre of anti-American militancy.
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Washington says Falluja is a stronghold for foreign Islamic fighters led by Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein supporters, but residents deny the city has become a magnet for militants from outside Iraq.

The U.S. military says its air strikes target safe houses used by Zarqawi's fighters. Residents deny any knowledge of the Jordanian militant and say the strikes exact a heavy toll on civilians as well as bolster home-grown resistance to the American presence in Iraq.
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Few have forgotten the last major U.S. offensive in April, launched after four American security guards were killed in the city and cheering crowds hung the charred bodies from a bridge. Hundreds of Iraqis were killed in the fighting.

When U.S. troops left they entrusted a "Falluja Brigade" led by former Baathist army officers to impose security. But by July, the force had collapsed, leaving militants and insurgents in control.

Many fathers and husbands are spending the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan alone in Falluja. "My family is living in Basra now. I haven't seen my children for two months," Alwani said. "I miss them so much. They are always on my mind."