12 May 2014

Both Ramadi and Fallujah have been the scenes of military operations over the past three days.

Fallujah is now completely besieged and random shelling has been targeting most of its residential districts, as is the Al-Sichir area in the city's northern sector and Al-Nu'aimiya in the southern sector. The Fallujah General Hospital is reporting two women and two children being killed and 6 other residents wounded.

There are reports indicating that security forces have seized control of the areas around Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, south of Fallujah City. There are also plans to enter the city through the northeastern Al-Shuhada'a district.

An official source at the Anbar Governorate Council has announced that 60,000 families have migrated away from Fallujah; they are now on their way to the governorate's western regions that are more or less secure. The displaced families are not being provided with any care or assistance; they have broken into a number of mosques and schools where they are living under extremely severe conditions. The Anbar Council has ordered the disbursement of 500,000 Dinars (approx. 430 USD) to each of the families displaced from Fallujah. Making matters worse is the weather has worsened with the arrival of high winds bearing sand and dust that has severely curtailed visibility. The people of the western tons are doing what they can to shelter as many of the displaced families as possible, particularly in Ana, Rawa, Al-Baghdadi, Al-Rutba, and Al-Rutba townships.

In Ramadi, a military operation lasting many hours has engulfed the northeastern sector of the city, especially in Al-Khalidiya Island and its surrounding areas.