Wave Of Refugees Flee Tal Afar As U.S. Forces Settle In

The immediate needs of thousands of people displaced by military operations against insurgents in a northern Iraqi city of are not being met, the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said.

"We need urgent support from international humanitarian organizations especially because we are the only NGO helping those families," Ferdous al-Abadi, spokeswoman for the IRCS in Baghdad, said on Wednesday.

Around $250,000 is needed immediately to cover costs and buy emergency supplies for those displaced, the IRCS said.

Other items urgently required include 50,000 bottles of drinking water, 40,000 jerry cans, 20,000 kitchen sets, 150 first aid kits, 50 first aid bags, 250 portable beds, three ambulances, 50 tents and food for 10,000 families for two weeks.

Nearly 4,000 families are believed to have fled from the city, which has a population of some 200,000, according to aid agencies. There is still, however, also a large number of families staying in their homes despite the fighting.

There is no access to the city except for the military, but permission is given to leave under military supervision.

The eventual duration of the fighting, which started on September 10, is unknown at present as U.S.-forces say it will continue until insurgents have been killed or have left Tal Afar.

Residents who fled the city are now spread in about 11 camps established by the IRCS and are receiving some assistance from them in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

The number of the families heading to the IRCS camp is increasing gradually, officials say, as volunteers continue to provide three hot meals a day.

"We are again victims of political differences inside Iraq," said Mustafa Karami, a Tal Afar resident who fled the city with eight members of his family. "We don't have a house or food and we now depend on the good heart of the IRCS to help us and we are sure that nothing will be left when we return to our land."

Hundreds of displaced people can be seen in the improvised camps and children are suffering from the hot weather and the lack of access to clean and potable water.

"My two children are already dehydrated and I don't know where to take them. The weather is hot and we have to control the quantity of water we drink," said Dawsar Youssef, a mother of three in Sheikh Ibrahim village, near Tal Afar where 375 of the families have settled.

Dr Salah Shibini, from a hospital close to Tal Afar, explained that they had registered many cases of diarrhea and vomiting, particularly among children and the elderly. Already there have been dozens of deaths among the hundreds of wounded, he added.

A spokesperson for the Coalition forces said food and medical assistance could not be delivered to the city yet.

"If we allow the entrance of food and medicines to the city we are just feeding the insurgents and those who are not [insurgents], and are not afraid, will ask to leave. It is not a human disaster but the prevention of it," said Lt. Col. Hassan al-Medan, a senior Iraqi officer in the operation and spokesperson.

The U.S. army said on Tuesday that terrorists had suffered hundreds of casualties and were now on the run from the city.

"The enemy here did just the most horrible things you can imagine," said Col. H.R. McMasters who is commanding the Third Armoured Cavalry Regiment, taking part in the operation. "In one case murdering a child, placing a booby trap within the child's body and waiting for the parent to come recover the body of their child and exploding it to kill the parents."

Up to 3,800 U.S. forces and 5,000 Iraqi troops are taking part in the operation in which 118 terrorists have been killed and 137 captured, McMasters said.

Inside the city of Tal Afar, water and electricity has also been cut since the first day of operation.

In a statement, the Arab International Committee urged the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conferences, the United Nations and all political and religious leaders to take action to stop the military aggression against the city of Tal Afar and to lift the siege imposed on it.