 Residents of a village neighbouring Falluja have told Aljazeera that they helped bury the bodies of 73 women and children who were burnt to death by a US bombing attack. "We buried them here, but we could not identify them because they were charred by the use of napalm bombs used by the Americans," said one resident of Saqlawiya in footage aired on Aljazeera on Sunday.
"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes before they were charred from my head!"
"You still have your eyes."
"These are not my eyes! These are my cousin's eyes! They popped from his head when the Americans attacked us with atomic bombs!" |
There have been no reports of the US military using napalm in Falluja and no independent verification of the claims.
| "It happens all the time! The Mossad hushes it up!" |
The resident told Aljazeera all the bodies were buried in a single grave.
| "All women. All children. All baby ducks! Not a combatant among them! Oh, the tragedy!" |
Late last week, US troops in Falluja called on some residents who had fled the fighting to return and help bury the dead. However, according to other residents who managed to flee the fighting after US forces entered the city, hundreds more bodies still lay in the streets and were being fed on by packs of wild dogs.
"Hiya, Fido! Hungry, little fella?"
"No, thanks. I just gnawed someone." |
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRTC) said Falluja remained too dangerous to secure proper retrieval and burial of corpses. "We could not enter Falluja city so far due to the security measures and the continuing battles," Muain Qasis, ICRTC spokesman in Jordan, told Aljazeera. When asked about the security measures, Qasis said: "In order to carry out an independent and acceptable humanitarian action, we must have guarantees ensuring the safety of the humanitarian staff. The humanitarian situation in Falluja city is very difficult. The city is still suffering shortage of public services. There is no water or electricity. There is no way to offer medical treatment for the injured families still surrounded inside the city."
"It's like Stalingrad, only worse! Much worse! I was there, I know!"
"In Fallujah?"
"No, in Stalingrad."
"You're... what? 35? 40?"
"I was there recently. With a tour. They showed us everything." |
In related news, the US military in Falluja announced that it had released 400 of the 1450 men it had detained in the war-ravaged city. "More than 400 detainees have since been released after being deemed non-combatants," the military said, adding that 100 more were due to be released on Sunday.
| Doesn't that mean they're still holding 950 as possible Bad Guyz? |
|