Iraqis fleeing Fallujah in dire conditions, need aid: Charity

Civilians fleeing the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was recently liberated from the grip of Takfiri Daesh terrorists, are in urgent need of aid with poor sanitary conditions threatening their health, a charity says.

The International Medical Corps (IMC), a global humanitarian nonprofit organization established by volunteer doctors and nurses, issued the warning on Tuesday.

Simon Cowie, an IMC field coordinator in Baghdad, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that Iraqis who fled fighting in Fallujah do not have enough food, water and healthcare, and are stuck in limbo in scorching, cramped camps nearby.

"The people are quite desperate at the moment. They are facing a lack of all essential items – lack of water, lack of food, lack of access to toilets and showers, healthcare, education is more or less non-existent,” Cowie said.

The charity worker further expressed concern over the situation of young children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly with temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius.

"The situation out there in the camps is truly awful. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before," Cowie added.

On May 23, the Iraqi forces launched a massive military operation to retake the strategic city of Fallujah, located in the western province of Anbar.

On June 26, the commander of the Fallujah liberation operation declared the strategic city fully recaptured from Daesh terrorists.

The United Nations says over 85,000 people have fled Fallujah, situated roughly 69 kilometers west of the capital Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed the liberation of Mosul in the near future, saying the national flag would be raised in the country's second largest city.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists began their reign of terror in the country in June 2014.

Iraqi army troops, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint operations.

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