21 July 2014

The Anbar areas that have been relatively calm, particularly the western town of Rawa - more than 250 km from Ramadi - have been bombarded since last night, targeting the outskirts of Rawa and some of its districts. The bombardment wounded at least 60 residents, including women and children. The attacks were carried out by army gunships that targeted a number of residences and resulted in demolishing large parts of Rawa's new stadium. The local government and the residents have denounced, expressing surprise at the random bombardment of people's homes.

In Fallujah, yesterday was another day of violence, with the aerial bombardment that targeted a number of the city's districts. Initial casualty figures list 7 residents killed and 17 others wounded in central Fallujah.

In Al-Garma, the military operation attempted incursion into the town, but the fierce resistance by the gunmen within the town is still holding the security and army forces at bay. Residences have been bombarded, and security forces are saying that 34 gunmen have been killed, and 4 residents have also been killed and 11 others wounded.

In Ramadi, intermittent clashes are continuing in the city's western sector districts, from which many families have made and are making their way to Hit and Al-Baghdadi.

Many aid and relief agencies are stressing that the plight of the displaced families is extremely difficult now that the funds that had been allocated to the local government have run out, given that the 2014 budget has yet to be approved, and there is no more official relief forthcoming for the estimated 500,000 displaced persons within Anbar and elsewhere.