11/16/2004 The US military continues to say it has taken control of Falluja, but scattered resistance remains, particularly in southern parts of the city.
On Tuesday, US forces arrested the deputy head of Iraq's interim parliament and a high-ranking member of a Sunni political party after a dawn raid on his Baghdad home. ''This action is a kind of punishment to the (Iraqi) Islamic Party because we object to what is happening in Iraq, especially Fallujah and to the security policies adopted by the Americans and the Iraqi government,'' an Islamic Party official told the press.
A top United Nations human rights official has called for an investigation of alleged abuses in Falluja including disproportionate use of force and the targeting of civilians. A high-ranking official with the Red Cross in Baghdad estimates that ”at least 800 civilians” have been killed in Falluja over the past week. Anger and unrest is growing across Iraq as people hear the stories of those who managed to escape the US attack: "We were displaced by the American bombardment. They bombed families without mercy," she said. "We went to the mosque as refugees and they sent us to this camp...I want God to make the mujahidin victorious against the American occupiers who have spared no woman or child."
Dar Al Hayat: Concealing the Truth about Fallujah | Collective punishment is escalating in Iraq