While Networks Show Jubilant Iraqis, Americans Shoot At Anyone Who Moves
09.04.2003 [22:03]

While networks around the world are showing pictures of jubilant Iraqis, albeit in areas that have suffered most under his regime including the very poor Saddam city and the Kurds in the North, the International Red Cross says that the situation in downtown Baghdad is another story.

In a phone interview from the centre of Baghdad, Red Cross representatives said that the situation is very hostile and that the American forces are "shooting at anything that moves", including one of their own convoys. At the time of this filing, the IRC have been unable to evacuate one of their seriously injured colleagues which may prove fatal.

The streets are scattered with casualties and US soldiers are firing at anyone that tries to evacuate them. The IRC says they are shooting at their clearly marked vehicles and preventing treatment of the wounded is not only against the Geneva Convention but "unacceptable".

The situation in the city is extremely critical. Hospitals are reported to be overwhelmed by the inflow of war-wounded patients and some are without water or power. The water supply for Baghdad is becoming an issue of major concern following reports that the Qanat raw water pumping station in the north of the city has also stopped functioning.

Jihad Unspun/jihadunspun.net