Dozens dead, thousands displaced in west, doctors say

Dozens of civilians were killed and injured on Saturday when US-led forces launched an offensive on the western Iraqi town of Husaybah, according to local doctors. The attack forced thousands to flee to camps on the outskirts of the nearest town of al-Qaim, some 12 km from the Syrian border. “The situation is becoming critical,” said Ferdous al-Abadi, spokesman for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS). “People are seriously suffering.” According to the US military, the offensive was launched in response to alleged “terrorist” activity along Iraq’s border with western neighbour Syria. “Terrorists from the al-Qaeda group have used the region’s porous borders to smuggle foreign fighters, money and equipment into the country to be used in their ongoing attacks against the Iraqi people and Coalition Forces,” read a statement issued by the US-run Combined Press Information Centre. Centre director US Lt-Col Steven Boylan said, “We’re just helping the Iraqi people to live in peace by ending terrorism in the area. No civilian causalities have been reported.” However, one doctor in al-Qaim said that the US military’s regular use of anti-personnel cluster bombs had left at least 31 dead and 44 wounded, among them women and children. According to the IRCS, people began to flee Husaybah nearly a week before the launch of the offensive. The agency added that local volunteers had estimated the number of displaced at some 4,000. Saturday’s attack follows an earlier series of US air strikes near al-Qaim on 31 October. According to doctors, those attacks killed and injured dozens and displaced hundreds. The IRCS noted that many of the displaced have since found refuge with relatives, while others had fled to improvised camps on the outskirts of the town. Fearing renewed attacks, few residents have returned to their homes.