Residents of Amarah, a half-million strong city in south-eastern Iraq, say they are being severely restricted by an indefinite daily 20-hour curfew. Imposed by the Iraqi government on Monday after clashes between militia fighters and the Iraqi army intensified, the curfew is crippling daily life.
“We cannot access medical facilities. My two children are sick with high fever and when I tried to take them to hospital, they [Iraqi Army] just forced me back into my house,” said mother-of-three Hamidiya Bint al-Hussein, 32.
“If I go out, they might kill me and my children. And if I stay in my house, my sons will get worse and could even die. We cannot stand the constant fighting anymore, we are tired,” al-Hussein said.
Dozens have been killed in clashes between the Shi’ite Mehdi Army and police since Thursday.
Authorities said the curfew was urgently needed to prevent violence and deaths from increasing. “The situation was getting critical in Amarah and we did not want more civilians to die,” said Ali Muhammad, a press officer of Basra Governorate.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned the militia violence in Amarah and promised that the Iraqi army would confront it.
Although there are no reliable statistics, local NGOs believe that dozens of families have fled the violence that has broken out in Amarah.
“Families are scared of the fighting and are trying to take their loved ones out of the city to neighbouring towns,” said Fatah Ahmed, spokesperson for the Iraqi Aid Association (IAA).
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“We cannot access medical facilities. My two children are sick with high fever and when I tried to take them to hospital, they [Iraqi Army] just forced me back into my house,” said mother-of-three Hamidiya Bint al-Hussein, 32.
“If I go out, they might kill me and my children. And if I stay in my house, my sons will get worse and could even die. We cannot stand the constant fighting anymore, we are tired,” al-Hussein said.
Dozens have been killed in clashes between the Shi’ite Mehdi Army and police since Thursday.
Authorities said the curfew was urgently needed to prevent violence and deaths from increasing. “The situation was getting critical in Amarah and we did not want more civilians to die,” said Ali Muhammad, a press officer of Basra Governorate.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned the militia violence in Amarah and promised that the Iraqi army would confront it.
Although there are no reliable statistics, local NGOs believe that dozens of families have fled the violence that has broken out in Amarah.
“Families are scared of the fighting and are trying to take their loved ones out of the city to neighbouring towns,” said Fatah Ahmed, spokesperson for the Iraqi Aid Association (IAA).
As/ed
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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