FALLUJAH, Nov 10: Fighting in Fallujah has created a humanitarian disaster in which innocent people are dying because medical help cannot reach them, aid workers in Iraq say. In one case, a pregnant woman and her child died in a refugee camp west of the city after the mother unexpectedly aborted and no doctors were on hand, Firdoos al-Ubadi, an official from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, told Reuters.
In another case, a young boy died from a snake bite that would normally have been easily treatable, she said.
"From a humanitarian point of view it's a disaster, there's no other way to describe it. And if we don't do something about it soon, it's going to spread to other cities," she said.
About 10,000 US soldiers and 2,000 Iraqi troops are fighting to wrest control of Fallujah, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, back from insurgents.
At least 2,200 families have fled Fallujah in recent days and are struggling to survive without enough water, food or medicine in nearby towns and villages, she said.
Some families have fled as far as Tikrit, about 150 km (95 miles) north of Fallujah.
But the biggest concern is people in and around Fallujah itself - they can't be reached because US and Iraqi forces have set up a wide cordon around the city to prevent anyone from entering and any insurgents from fleeing.
It is unclear how many civilians are left in Fallujah, but the US military estimates 150,000, or half the entire population, have fled the city since they began shaping up for an offensive in October.
The Muslim Clerics' Association estimates about 60,000 people are still there but it is unknown how they arrived at the figure and because of the chaos no official numbers are available.
Many of those who fled are with relatives and do not show up in refugee statistics.
NO SUPPLIES, NO HELP: Between a nightly curfew and the danger of venturing onto the streets, many are effectively trapped at home.
"We've asked for permission from the Americans to go into the city and help the people there but we haven't heard anything back from them," Ubadi said. "There's no medicine, no water, no electricity. They need our help."-Reuters