04 August 2014

The most significant development between yesterday evening and this afternoon has been a significant rise in the daily civilian casualty count in Fallujah. At least 11 residents have been killed and more than 19 wounded by the bombardment/shelling that has targeted numerous residential disrtricts in the city.

In Al-Garma, residential districts have also been directly targeted by airborne attacks, killing 3 residents including one woman and wounding at least 4. A number of residential homes have been badly damaged based on the possibility of their being used by the groups of gunmen who are still controlling the town, as they are inside Fallujah, ever since the crisis began at the end of last year.

In Ramadi, a three-day old security operation is still underway, led by the army, the police, and the 'Awakenings' forces that are trying to re-take the western districts of the city that were previously free of the gunmen who have been able to seize and control them. The mentioned security operation is thus likely to continue beyond its current duration. A complicating factor is that many of the displaced from other parts of the city are now within those targeted districts.

In western Anbar, the gunmen have yet again attempted to mount an incursion into the Haditha town from the north, west, and east, but they have been held at bay by the fierce resistance of the security forces supported by tribal fighters within the town. Air attacks have also been used to attack groups of gunmen on the town's periphery. Further west, the main townships are still under the total control of the armed groups, although air attacks have been targeting some of those groups in the region. A security source has said that security, army, and 'Awakenings' forces are still attempting to secure Ramadi before turning to the other regions of the governorate.