UN distributes aid to Talafar families

The United Nations and its partners have delivered food and non-food items to over 16,000 people in the northern Iraqi city of Talafar where recent fighting between Coalition forces and insurgents displaced several thousand families, a UN statement said on Friday. Working with the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration, the prime minister’s office, the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and national NGOs, the UN had provided food, water, non-food items and tents to more than 4,000 displaced families in towns surrounding Talafar, the statement noted. The UN, however, said it was concerned access to food, water and medical services had continued to be hindered by the presence and activities of armed elements. "The UN asks that all actors follow international humanitarian law and guidelines for civil-military interactions," said the statement. On Wednesday, the IRCS said nearly 1,500 displaced Iraqi families had returned to the city after Coalition forces ended an operation to rout insurgents hiding there. Returnees said dozens of their homes had been totally destroyed. Despite the returns, however, thousands of displaced people were still living in camps surviving on aid from various humanitarian organisations. The fighting also disrupted the school year, which has now been delayed across the city, residents said. Up to 3,800 United States forces and 5,000 Iraqi troops took part in the operation in which 153 terrorists have been killed and 187 captured, US officials said, denying there were civilian casualties. However, Surkassi Ahmed, a doctor at the local hospital, said there had been civilian casualties. "We have received cases of deaths of women, children and the elderly in our hospital," he noted.