[thumb=B]swbasra.JPG[/thumb] 77 people have been killed in the Basra bombings
A humanitarian disaster is looming in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, the Red Cross has warned. Water and electricity supplies to the country’s second city have been cut off for more than two days. Coalition forces have carried out airstrikes on Basra and are holding land positions outside the city. But British military sources have denied Iraqi claims that 77 people had been killed and more than 300 injured.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said electricity cables powering the Wafa al-Quaid water station had been destroyed. We are aware there may be a number of humanitarian issues there (in Basra) and we’re taking measures to try and improve upon them Lieutenant Colonel Chris Vernon British forces spokesman It claimed the station, which supplies two million people, was under coalition control.
ICRC spokesman Florian Westphal said: "We have not been able to gain access to the main water station today, so we will try and do the same thing tomorrow. "Sixty per cent of the local population are still without access to a regular water supply - this could develop into a humanitarian crisis. “We are really, really going to try to gain access to the supply and do anything we can to repair it.”
Aishaa, At the risk of being overly cynical i think the only reason they haven’t destroyed the infrastructures completely, is because they know they will just have to rebuild them once General Tommy Franks is safely installed in Baghdad. They need the electrical infrastructures to be working for when they are able to get their troops to colonize (i mean enter) Baghdad. i realize i could be completely wrong, that’s just my overly cynical interpretation of it, after watching a bit too much CNN and feeling disgusted at the hypocrisies.
The International Committee of the Red Cross came out with the following statements:
A humanitarian disaster is looming in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, the Red Cross has warned. Water and electricity supplies to the country’s second city have been cut off for more than two days.
Coalition forces have carried out airstrikes on Basra and are holding land positions outside the city. But British military sources have denied Iraqi claims that 77 people had been killed and more than 300 injured.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said electricity cables powering the Wafa al-Quaid water station had been destroyed. It claimed the station, which supplies two million people, was under coalition control.
If the Iraqis don’t go to these refugee camps, how long is their food and water going to last? Esp. in Basra? Will the relief organizations get in while the air bombing is still in progress?
332 Refugees Arrive at Border
Agence France Presse
RUWEISHED, Jordan, 24 March 2003 — A total of 332 people, none of them Iraqis, arrived yesterday at this camp near the border between Iraq and Jordan, said Mohamed Al-Hadid, head of the Jordanian Red Crescent.
The new arrivals follow 436 people, most of them Sudanese, who have taken refuge at the Ruweished camp since US-led forces attacked Iraq on Thursday. The camp, 60 km into Jordanian territory, is designed for third-country nationals in transit from Iraq. Among the people who arrived yesterday were 241 Sudanese, along with Somalis, Eritreans, South Africans, Egyptians and one citizen of Djibouti, Hadid told reporters at the camp.
He said more than half of the Sudanese would leave for their home country.
No Iraqis are known to have taken refuge in Jordan since the start of the war. However, a camp run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) about three kilometers (two miles) away is being prepared to receive up to 10,000 Iraqis.
WATER and electricity have been cut off in the southern Iraqi city of Basra for more than two days, threatening a humanitarian disaster, it was claimed today. The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that neither supply has been available since Friday, potentially crippling hospitals and services in the area. Electricity cables powering the major Wafa al-Quaid water station - which supplies two million people and is the biggest source in the region - have been destroyed.
The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today warned of a humanitarian crisis in the Iraqi city of Basra, where coalition forces were involved in fierce fighting. Asked whether coalition forces were looking after the needs of the Iraqi people, Annan said he had been told by the Red Cross that “the people in Basra may be facing a humanitarian disaster.”
^ Its sickening that the Bush Adminstration has again targeted CIVILIANS in their illegal war against Iraq. As in the last war they have again resorted to the destruction of the water and electricty plants.. :(
Im sure that millions of peace loving people will be disgusted by the wholesale destruction of Iraqi towns and cities caused by Bush’s illegal war and the devastating effects on Iraqi civilians..
From correspondents in Amman, Jordan March 25, 2003
AT least 100,000 small children in Basra are at risk of disease after water supplies were cut following US-led air strikes on the besieged southern Iraqi city, the United Nations Children’s Fund has warned. UNICEF said it was concerned over frequent power cuts and the consequent cutting of water supplies to Iraq’s second largest city.
“There must now be a threat of disease as tens of thousands of people in their homes, hospitals and care institutions attempt to cope and find what water they can from the river and other sources,” it said. "Unfortunately the river is also where sewage is dumped."It said children were most vulnerable to contaminated water.
Horrific images of Iraqi civilians reportedly killed by the coalition bombing of Basra were being shown on the Arabic news station al-Jazeera yesterday. Several Arab media outlets described the civilian deaths there as a “massacre”. Al-Jazeera’s footage included an Iraqi child with the back of its head apparently blown off and wounded people covered in blood being treated on the floor of a hospital.
It apologised for showing disturbing pictures but said: “The world should know the truth and what is going on.”
The Iraqi information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, claimed that 77 civilians had been killed and 366 wounded in Basra, mainly by cluster bombs.
Al-Jazeera, an influential channel seen throughout the Arab world, put the number of civilian dead at 50.
[QUOTE] Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
**DhP*, your article paints a very disturbing picture.
...Al-Jazeera's footage included an Iraqi child with the back of its head apparently blown off and wounded people covered in blood being treated on the floor of a hospital.
[/QUOTE] nadia, thanks for that article. I think many would agree that under international laws and conventions those politicians who instigated this illegal war against Iraq are guilty of war crimes. What occured in Basra with the killing of over 77 civilians with hundreds injured and the US bombing of water and electricity supplies are crimes against humanity.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by underthedome: *
Basra fighters are using women and children as human shields.
[/QUOTE]
Mere allegations on America's part. All the world can see that America and the UK are beseiging Basra and starving the men, women and children of Basra. Now the British have been kicked out of Basra by the brave Iraqi resistance - sounds a lot like the siege of Stalinigrad.
According to the BBC, electricity has been restored to Baghdad subsequent to a 24 hour power outage. i hope it stays this way - not certain whether many hospitals will be able to rely upon their backup generators if more power outages take place.
It is in the best interests of the Americans to keep the power on in Baghdad. A humanitarian disaster will put huge pressure on the US to put a quick end to the seige.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Seminole: *
It is in the best interests of the Americans to keep the power on in Baghdad. A humanitarian disaster will put huge pressure on the US to put a quick end to the seige.
[/QUOTE]
Correct, except if it might help them in shortening the war, saving lives in the process, by using a "black-out" to advance stratetically. If they DO put out power, I expect it will be too short to cause major humanitarian problems.
Two men have been brought in to an ad hoc US military first aid centre here in Nasiriya with the most dreadful wounds.
One is sitting here in front of me on a stretcher, his face is very badly burned. Bits of skin are peeling off, other areas are simply weeping wounds, his hands are bandaged. The other man, his nephew, has lost all the skin off his back. It is a sickening sight.
One of the men explains that the bombing from an American aircraft came without warning. There was no reason to attack their house. They had no weapons and were just relaxing at home.
Speaking through a US marine interpreter the man said the US air strike killed 11 members of his family. Six were also badly burned as the phosphorus turned the inside of his home white hot.
He says he is not upset at what happened, he does not take it personally, he knows the Americans are trying to free his country. It is a remarkable response from a man who had seen his mother and father and most of his family wiped out by a US air strike.
Whether he was in shock, was aware perhaps of the US military audience to his words or what, I do not know.