Civilians killed in Fallujah in Iraqi air force bombing

More than 20 Iraqis were injured on Wednesday after Iraqi military airstrikes hit the city of Fallujah in Anbar province.

A local hospital source told The New Arab that the Fallujah Hospital received seven dead, while 15 other residents of the city, the majority women and children, were brought in wounded.

Salem al-Mohammadi, a tribal leader in Fallujah, accused the Iraqi parliament for ignoring the daily crimes committed in the city. 

"The residents of Fallujah are subject to continuous bombardment of the Iraqi army and militas stationed east of the city," Mohammadi told The New Arab.


"Hundreds of residents of Fallujah have witnessed the death and injury of hundreds more residents due to the blockade imposed by the Iraqi forces on the city," he said. He appealed to the international community to intervene to stop the siege on the city.  

Fallujah Hospital issued statistics on Wednesday saying that more than 9,300 civilians had been injured in the frequent bombing of the city in the past two years.

In that time, 3,480 Iraqis have been killed, including 532 children and 332 women.

In early 2014, anti-government fighters took control of Fallujah, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad during unrest that broke out after security forces demolished a protest camp further west. It later became an IS stronghold.

IS seized further territory in surrounding Anbar province after launching an offensive later that year, but pro-government forces have since regained significant ground from the miitant group.

Iraqi forces have largely cut off access to Fallujah, while IS is preventing residents from leaving the city.

Tribesmen battled IS in Fallujah for several days in February in a sign that its grip was weakening, but the fighting ended after IS fighters detained dozens of residents.