Families displaced due to major offensive

Hundreds of families have fled the city of Samarra after US coalition and Iraqi forces launched what has been officially called the biggest air offensive in the country since 2003. "We have sent volunteers from the disaster department to monitor the situation and we are preparing ourselves for an emergency," said Ferdous al-Abadi, spokesperson for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in Baghdad. IRCS volunteers working in the Salahuddine governorate, where Samarra is located, said more than 700 families had left the city and no one had received aid so far. "We have informed the IRCS's office in the capital about the critical situation and they are going to send a convoy to the area. The main requirements are blankets, tents, food supplies, potable water and medicine," explained Ahmed Tikrit, a volunteer for the IRCS and resident of Samarra. "They need urgent help and we call on all organisations to offer them supplies and medical support as soon as possible," Tikrit stressed. Launched on Mar. 16, the offensive named "Operation Swarmer" involves 650 US troops and some 900 Iraqis with the aim of rooting out insurgents believed to have taken refuge in the area. According to a source at the US military base in Baghdad, the operation will continue for an unspecified time. The operation is taking place in several locations of the city. "When they started to hit our city I didn't take anything. I just took my family and ran like hell. We don't have anything to eat or wear," urged Barakat Muhammad, a resident and father of five in Samarra. Most of the displaced families are staying in abandoned schools and government buildings near the town of Salahuddine and in empty areas east of Samarra. Locals who remained in their houses live in fear of the air strikes. "You can hear the explosions very close to our homes even if it is far away, and our children are very afraid. Any Iraqi or US military officer that passes though our street looks at us as if we are criminals and we feel that we can be targeted at any time," said Odey Abdul Karem, 36, a father of three in Samarra. Local doctors say that at least 35 civilians including women and children have been treated at the local hospital with injuries caused by the airstrikes. In addition, 18 bodies had been taken to the hospital since Mar. 17. "We have run out of supplies and if the operation continues we need urgent surgical materials and pain killers to offer treatment to the innocent victims," Dr Ibraheem Mahmoud, of the emergency department at the local hospital in Samarra, said.