Fierce street battles are raging in Falluja between resistance fighters defending the town and US occupation forces, who are launching missile attacks in and around residential areas.
Hospital sources said at least 52 Iraqis were killed and 90 injured in attacks on the besieged town of Falluja on Wednesday, said Aljazeera correspondent in Falluja, Ahmad Mansur.
"Iraqi medic Rafi al-Isawai said the number of casualities is expected to double," he added.
Another 53 Iraqis died in attacks overnight in the besieged town which American forces sealed off on Sunday. "More than 200 Iraqis, including women children, were injured in the past 24 hours," said Mansur.
Twenty-five of those killed were from one family.
'Getting worse'
"The situation is getting worse," said Mansur. "An ambulance carrying casualties was attacked on its way to the medical centre. The American forces closed the road leading to the city's hospital and everybody walking in the streets of Falluja is now becoming a target."
The US forces have evacuated the factories in the industrial area of the city and asked the workers to leave and not come back until a day or two, he added.
The correspondent also confirmed that Abd al-Aziz al-Samari mosque, where the office of the Association of Muslim Clerics is, was attacked and among the casualties were a family sitting in a car parked behind the mosque.
A number of children were among the casualties in Falluja
"The American troops are still in the outside section of Falluja and they have not reached the centre of the city yet," said Mansur.
Earlier, speaking live from a rooftop in the tense town, Mansur said the hospital is struggling to cope with the rising casualties.
"They are attacking residential neighbourhoods," he said as US warplanes swooped over the area and fired rockets. Intense gunfire could be heard from the streets.
"The residents of Falluja are asking where is the (US-appointed) Iraqi Governing Council," said an obviously shaken Mansur. "They are asking why the Iraqis are not protecting them."
Plea for help
"Residents of Falluja call on the Arab world to intervene and lift the siege on this town of 300,000. They ask where are the Arab leaders in this time?" he said before throwing himself to the ground as a plane flew overhead.
Falluja has come under fierce US attack in the past three days as occupation forces sealed off the town, a centre for anti-occupation activity, in an effort to crush the resistance.
US marines tried for a third time to take control of the town but were forced to retreat.
The Aljazeera crew, including cameramen Layf Muftaq and Hasan Walid, sound engineer Sayf al-Din and correspondent Hamid Hadid, are the only media personnel inside the town.
US forces besieged the town after last week's ambush in which four security guards were killed and their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets by Iraqi mobs.
Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 7 2004, 5:04 PM
So they hit the mosque so what?
If the people in the mosque were armed, I dont have any problem with this.
Holy places should not be use for hiding.
The mosque can not be a sanctuary for terrorist.
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 7 2004, 5:22 PM
But then your definition of terrorist is very subjective. Is somebody fighting occupiers a "terrorist?" What about the Jews in Palestine attacking the British prior to the creation of the state of Israel, are they terrorists or freedom fighters? And if these Israelis went to the Temple Mount or a synagogue, should the British have used heavy artillery?
I think Israel also faced a similar situation two years ago, when a bunch of Palestinians sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity. Since Christians believe that was the birth place of Jesus Christ, if the Israeli military used its attack helicopters and Merkavas to kill them, many Christians may have considered that a war against Christianity.
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Posted by Thorsten (Login Bolkenstein) on 2004-04-06! Ha!Ha!
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 7 2004, 5:47 PM
OK,
Lets call them freedom fighters, it is not change nothing.
Hiding in Mosque does not give them sanctuary.
Jewish are not allow to bring weapon to a Synagogue,
and if there are Jewish who did this, i do not think
they should get sanctuary, althouge i admit i do not
want to see a Synagogue blown up.
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 7 2004, 6:13 PM
Depending on the point of view you want to take, a "terrorist" is still a "terrorist" whether he carries a weapon or not. So, even if the "terrorist" is unarmed inside a church/mosque/synagogue, would it be acceptable to have armed soldiers go in to arrest them? Or even a large group of unarmed soldiers going in for a fist fight and arrest?
BTW, I realise Israelis have generally have respect for holy places. They showed that by not damaging the Church of the Nativity.
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« Russia lost the war yes. They defeated the Germans but they lost the war. »
Posted by Thorsten (Login Bolkenstein) on 2004-04-06! Ha!Ha!
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 7 2004, 10:20 PM
In my eyes the islamits ,arabs or not, are trying do a war against all human been non follower of their stupids thinks and faith; and all non pure Muslin like them are the enemy needing to be kill.So,in my eyes too ,we only will be free killing they all before and sooner and by the fast way we can and let them enjoy in The Allah Garden they love,for the eternity.
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 8 2004, 8:25 AM
I agree with Dan about the Mosque. If the enemy is using a Mosque as a sanctuary from which to fire upon coalition soldiers, it should be fired upon if it cannot be bypassed and isolated. I would feel no differently if it was Christian Churches. Reasonable care must be taken however to avoid destroying the structure.
The American Marine Division has the highest combat effectiveness in the American armed forces. It seems not enough for our four divisions to surround and annihilate its two regiments.
---Mao Tse Sung to General Song, prior to Chosin Reservoir
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 8 2004, 2:07 PM
We all have only one and the real sanctuary our sweet home EARTH and these retards islamics or not fanatical terrorists trying and wanting all the world be in their faith and their follower need to be exterminated or,better,we need to do a kind of religious genocide or can we talk in a religicide and this time do what the nazis didnot do with the Jews and give to these idiots a good and a real HOLOCAUST,before them can do more shi@#$%^&*t ,and send they all to The ALLAH GARDEM AND AS SOON AND FAST AS POSSIBLE for we can give ours GLORIES TO GOD and ALELUIAS,Amém!
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 8 2004, 6:14 PM
"So, even if the "terrorist" is unarmed inside a church/mosque/synagogue, would it be acceptable to have armed soldiers go in to arrest them? Or even a large group of unarmed soldiers going in for a fist fight and arrest?"
Yes they should be arrest.
If terrorist is hide in mosque ,i see it like HE don't have
any respect to the mosque, there for no one can ask me
to respect this holly place.
"BTW, I realise Israelis have generally have respect for holy places. They showed that by not damaging the Church of the Nativity."
True, It was huge mistake.
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Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 8 2004, 9:12 PM
Yes dan LOL;but for we dont have this trouble maybe can be better explode all:chuch/mosque/synagogue and by this way we can end the question before it begin or have again and in the futur we only do our prayers,alone or in groups, in free nature places out of any human constructions ,and only in a prayers between ours gods or our god ,and only let kids in houses for some religions lessons or class givem for the fathers or a teatcher choised for it.
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At least 450 Iraqis have been killed and more than 1000 others wounded in fighting in the city of Falluja this week, says a doctor who runs the city's main hospital.
Dr Rafi Hayad, the director of the main hospital supplied the figures to the Reuters news agency. The agency has given no explanation of how Hayad reached his figures.
In Baghdad an aide to a member of the interim Governing Council said on Friday more than 400 Iraqis have been killed and 1000 wounded in a six-day US offensive against insurgents in Falluja.
"To this day, more than 400 Iraqis have been killed and more than 1,000 others wounded in Falluja," said Hatem al-Husseini, an aide to council member Muhsin Abdul Hameed from the Iraqi Islamic Party.
"These numbers were given to us from Falluja, from all hospitals, and they are correct 100 percent," he told AFP.
The Iraqi Islamic Party was leading mediations to evacuate casualties, bring in supplies and end hostilities in the town west of Baghdad.
In Falluja itself US occupation forces have bombed the town , belying administrator Paul Bremer's announcement that his forces were suspending military operations there.
"As of noon today coalition forces have initiated a unilateral suspension of offensive operations in Falluja," Paul Bremer told reporters on Friday.
But, the US-led occupation's deputy director of operations, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, denied the reports of a ceasefire.
Minutes after Bremer's announcement, US forces carried out a fresh offensive on Falluja bombing the town from the air. Scores of residents were injured in the attack, reported our correspondent.
"There is no brokered agreement for a ceasefire in Falluja," Kimmitt told AFP. "There is no agreement between the rebels and the coalition forces."
IGC statement
Earlier, the Iraqi Governing Council member Mohsin Abd al-Hameed in a statement on behalf of his Iraqi Islamic party to Aljazeera said military action in Falluja would end for a period of 24 hours.
Upon commitment to a ceasefire by the occupation forces and Iraqi resistance fighters the ceasefire would continue, the statement said.
The Islamic party political bureau would send a delegation to hold talks with prominent figures in the town, the statement said.
Aljazeera, meanwhile, has learnt that during negotiations to end the military offensive, US forces imposed many conditions including getting the Aljazeera crew out of the town.
Re: In Arab eyes, USA has confirmed they are at war with Islam
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April 9 2004, 2:11 PM
In Falluja itself US occupation forces have bombed the town , belying administrator Paul Bremer's announcement that his forces were suspending military operations there.
The US did temporarily suspend offensive operations, but resumed them after insurgents repeatedly probed Marine positions.
The American Marine Division has the highest combat effectiveness in the American armed forces. It seems not enough for our four divisions to surround and annihilate its two regiments.
---Mao Tse Sung to General Song, prior to Chosin Reservoir
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