Urgent assistance needed for al-Qaim displaced, aid workers say

Thousands of displaced people from the towns of al-Qaim and Husaybah who have taken refuge in other parts of the western Anbar governorate are living in desperate conditions and in urgent need of assistance, relief workers said on Wednesday. US-led forces launched a major offensive - dubbed Operation Steel Curtain - in Husaybah on 5 November in response to alleged "terrorist" activity along Iraq's border with western neighbour, Syria. Earlier, on 31 October, they had carried out air strikes on al-Qaim. Relief workers said many of the displaced were in urgent need of medical attention, but there were only two hospitals in the area, which were already overwhelmed. Several injured people had been forced to trek up to 200 km to Fallujah hospital for treatment. "Some people are dying on their way to the hospital," said Ferdous al-Abadi, spokeswoman for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS). "We have sent 7 tonnes of medicines to Fallujah hospital [in eastern Anbar], but it is too far for those displaced and there is no closer medical centre in the area," she added. "The situation is really very bad." The IRCS said it was caring for nearly 12,000 people who had fled the towns close to the Syrian border. Al-Abadi said 850 families were camped in A'ana, some 30 km west of al-Qaim. Five hundred families were in the village of al-Astaf, 320 families were in the village of Hassah, and another 600 families had sought refuge with relatives in Anbar. "We have been offering supplies to all families in these areas. A total of 30 tonnes of medical supplies and food parcels have been sent already," she said. "We urge international organisations to send us blankets and tents to cover the requirements," she added. Muhammad Abitan, a senior official in the Anbar governorate, said on Wednesday that all entrances and exits to al-Qaim, Husaybah and the village of Romanna had been closed, and no more families could leave the towns. "We have been trying to speak to anyone in al-Qaim or Husaybah, but all phone lines are down," al-Abadi noted. "We have been informed that hundreds of families are still inside the towns and that water, power and phone lines have been destroyed." Several displaced people who were camped in the town of Rawa, almost 100 km east of al-Qaim, said they feared the onset of the region's harsh winter. They complained that their children were suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting but had received no medical assistance. "Some cases are critical, and even with my help here it is useless. They need hospitalisation, and it is not provided here," said Dr Ahmad Rabia'a, a medical volunteer in Rawa. "Some injured people have been reported dying in their way to Fallujah." The Iraqi army was supporting the humanitarian operation in the western part of Husaybah, providing food and relief supplies to some 800 displaced people, a local Iraqi army official said on Wednesday.