8000 displaced from Fallujah residents to Erbil
, expecting the influx of 4000 of others in the coming hours .
The source informed " Shafaq News " that “a wave of displaced people have came from Fallujah city into Erbil during the past few days after the intensification of the fighting there“.
The source , who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release statements said that the authorities of Kurdistan Region informed the United Nations organizations in the region on the entry of 8000 people of Fallujah residents to Erbil.
The army has besieged Fallujah since al Qaeda-linked militants extended their influence over the city in the past week in a bid to establish an Islamic emirate.
The security services, local and tribal men are going through fierce battles to expel the militants from the city while the army forces launched artillery attacks and air strikes on the militants during the past seven days .
Tens of thousands of civilians were stuck amid fighting and shelling, forcing thousands to flee to other provinces in search of safety .
However, concerns are growing from the deterioration of the humanitarian situation along with the government’s wave to launch a wide-scale military campaign to expel al-Qaeda militants.
Fallujah had suffered from severe damage in the attacks of U.S. forces in 2004 to lift the control of Islamist militants and tribesmen of the city at that time.
The source from Erbil said that the displaced people from Fallujah have been distributed on a number of homes of their relatives , while the overwhelming majority went to hotels .
He pointed out that local authorities in Kurdistan plans in collaboration with the United Nations organizations to house the displaced people in " Baherka " camp on the outskirts of Erbilcity.
The camp was built primarily to house the displaced Syrians , but the authorities of the region distributed refugees living in it numbered 700 families on the other camps .
The source pointed out that the camp needs rehabilitation due to the collapse of the tents and lack of service infrastructure .
Anbar was the focus of events in Iraq over the last two weeks when fighting troops, backed by air support started launching a massive military operation in the desert areas of Anbar, an extension of the Jordanian and Syrian border to hunt down al-Qaeda after the militants killed a number of military commanders.
However, tensions exacerbated within cities since police ended the Sunnis protest eight days ago in Ramadi city, which led to the occurrence of battles while authorities banned roaming over days .
Al-Qaeda militants launched a large-scale attack against the cities of Fallujah on Wednesday , hours after lifting the curfew , which exacerbated the suffering of the population who could not buy food and medicine , which has become scarce as a result of the blockade , as well as power outages in a semi-permanent way .
