13 May 2014

Since last night Fallujah has been the scene of indiscriminate shelling that is still going on, along with violent clashes on the city's outskirts, particularly in Al-Sichir. The random shelling has been directed at most of the city's residential districts. Initial reports indicate that at least 2 residents have been killed and 8 others have been wounded.

Military operations are also continuing in and around Al-Garma and Al-Saqlawiya where gunmen are still in place. Aerial reconnaissance is also continuous and many loud explosions can be heard in those areas. However, army and security forces have still not been able to penetrate into Fallujah as of today.

In Ramadi, intermittent and dispersed clashes are continuing in the city's southern sector where resistance has been fierce.

There has been a report of a governorate delegation comprising tribal sheikhs and local government officials having traveled to Baghdad where they met today with Nouri Al-Maliki, with the probability of a second meeting tomorrow Wednesday, in an attempt to find a solution to the Anbar crisis, particularly with regard to Fallujah. There are numerous indications of agreement on a short or medium-term ceasefire that would allow civilians to evacuate Fallujah where there have been many civilian deaths and injuries during the past few days.

More than 1,500 families have migrated from Fallujah to Hit and a further 1,000 families to Haditha townships in western Anbar where they are facing harsh living conditions in school buildings. They are in desperate need of the wherewithal to survive. The local government had ordered payments of 500,000 Dinars (approx. $430) to every displaced family but these funds are not enough to provide the needs for most of multi-member families. There are also difficulties in providing for the ever-increasing numbers of displaced families whose numbers have reached more than 600,000 people within and outside Anbar governorate who have been displaced from Fallujah and Ramadi.