[NYTr] Fallujah Women & Children Buried in Mass Grave

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

Al Jazeera - Nov 22, 2004
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/24EBE5BB-CA3F-462B-8279-546BC1D9B7E6.htm


Falluja women, children in mass grave

Residents of a village neighbouring Falluja have told Aljazeera that 
they helped bury the bodies of 73 women and children who were burnt to 
death by a US bombing attack.

"We buried them here, but we could not identify them because they were 
charred by the use of napalm bombs used by the Americans," said one 
resident of Saqlawiya in footage aired on Aljazeera on Sunday.

There have been no reports of the US military using napalm in Falluja 
and no independent verification of the claims.  

[Actually, there is at least one resistance report of napalm being used in
Fallujah. See: "Resistance Says US Using Napalm, Gas in Fallujah," from
Islam Online, distributed Nov 11, 2004 at:
http://tania.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20041108/008841.html
 - NY Transfer]

The resident told Aljazeera all the bodies were buried in a single grave.

Late last week, US troops in Falluja called on some residents who had 
fled the fighting to return and help bury the dead.

However, according to other residents who managed to flee the fighting 
after US forces entered the city, hundreds more bodies still lay in the 
streets and were being fed on by packs of wild dogs.

Danger zone

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said 
Falluja remained too dangerous to secure proper retrieval and burial of 
corpses.

"We could not enter Falluja city so far due to the security measures and 
the continuing battles," Muain Qasis, ICRC spokesman in Jordan, told 
Aljazeera.

When asked about the security measures, Qasis said: "In order to carry 
out an independent and acceptable humanitarian action, we must have 
guarantees ensuring the safety of the humanitarian staff.

"The humanitarian situation in Falluja city is very difficult.

"The city is still suffering shortage of public services. There is no 
water or electricity. There is no way to offer medical treatment for the 
injured families still surrounded inside the city," he added.

Detained civilians released

In related news, the US military in Falluja announced that it had 
released 400 of the 1450 men it had detained in the war-ravaged city.

"More than 400 detainees have since been released after being deemed 
non-combatants," the military said, adding that 100 more were due to be 
released on Sunday.

Aljazeera + Agencies