03 July 2014

A significant development today has been the heavy bombardment by Syrian regime forces of border areas between Syria and Iraq, in which initial casualty figures list the killing of 3 Iraqi citizens and the wounding of 7 others. The attacks were carried out by Syrian aircraft intermittently between last night and this afternoon.

In Ramadi, there are intermittent clashes still going on in various districts of the city, especially in the western sector of Ramadi where the Anbar Operations Command and the the army's 8th Division HQ are located, but there has not been any constant fighting in the area.

In Fallujah, there was prolonged indiscriminate shelling yesterday resulting in the killing of 4 residents and the wounding of 9 others, bringing the total number of deaths in Fallujah since the beginning of the crisis up to at least 506, with at least 2,982 wounded.

The gunmen are expected to advance eastwards in the coming hours after having seized control the western Anbar towns and townships. Clashes also erupted today on the outskirts of Haditha which the gunmen have not yet taken; there was a direct confrontation between gunmen and security forces supported by some tribal fighters. Initial reports indicate that 3 gunmen were killed, as were 7 from the combined security-tribal forces. Large numbers of security forces are massed at the Haditha Dam, for fear that the gunmen might attack the dam. Serious consequences would result in Haditha and Hit, should the gunmen seize the dam.