IRAQ: Attacks on bridges affecting aid deliveries (IRIN News)

[Eugene]

Source: IRIN News

IRAQ: Attacks on bridges affecting aid deliveries

BAGHDAD, 26 June 2007 (IRIN) - The delivery of humanitarian
aid in war-torn Iraq is being hampered as bridges and key
transportation arteries come under attack from insurgents, the
Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on 26 June.

“Our humanitarian work has been hampered since the main bridges
and highway overpasses in Baghdad and other provinces started
to come under attack,” said Abdul-Hamid Salem, director of the
ICRS's Baghdad office.

“Sometimes it takes us a very long time to transport aid between
the two main parts of Baghdad as the authorities do not allow
trucks capable of carrying more than two metric tonnes to cross
before 3pm to prevent further attacks,” Salem said.

-snip-

Some analysts see the attacks on the bridges as an attempt to
make`it difficult for Iraqi and US troops to bring supplies from one
side of the river to the other. Others believe the goal is to divide
the city’s predominantly Shia east bank, known as Risafa, from the
mostly Sunni west bank, or Karkh.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72926

[maddezmom]

1. Dying children among Palestinians trapped in Iraqi border camps: UNHCR

Dying children among Palestinians trapped in Iraqi border camps: UNHCR

Geneva (ANTARA News) - Children in need of urgent medical care were among more than 1,400 Palestinian refugees still stranded on the Iraqi-Syrian border after fleeing Baghdad, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday.

Two children needed cancer treatment, one young man was about to lose a leg because of a blood disorder, and another needed lifesaving surgery for a hole in his heart, UNHCR medical teams found on a visit to the al-Waleed camp.

Canada was the only country so far to have responded to appeals to accept the refugees, none of whom felt they could return to Baghdad.

"We seem to be a voice in the wilderness that nobody is listening to," said UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis. "Conditions for these refugees are deteriorating by the day."

more:http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/6/26/dying-children-among-palestinians-trapped-in-iraqi-border-camps-unhcr/