Tens of thousands of refugees from Falluja poured into Baghdad, with many more trapped inside the besieged city, writes Jack Fairweather in Baghdad
On Saturday, up to 60,000 refugees fled Falluja having been prevented days earlier from doing so by US military roadblocks.
Many who left Falluja did so on foot, and were ferried into Baghdad by relief vehicles.
Falluja was yesterday sealed off again for most of the day whilst fighting raged between US forces and Iraqi insurgents on the main road leading to Baghdad.
Yesterday, refugees from Falluja spoke for the first time of their ordeal.
The families only agreed to speak to The Irish Times after being persuaded to do so by a member of the Iraqi team who negotiated a ceasefire. Several turned hostile whilst being interviewed.
They described how a city had become hell on earth and accused the US military of the indiscriminate killing of Iraqis.
"On Friday, I watched nine people on a nearby rooftop gunned down by an Apache attack helicopter," said Mohammed Adnan, a 35-year-old taxi driver.
"There have been so many injured I didn't know who to help first." Mr Adnan was one of the first Iraqis to leave Falluja, escaping with his wife, sister and three children, along a desert track far from the dangerous main road. He saw burnt-out car wrecks by the side of the road with dead bodies still inside.
"No one stopped. We just wanted to get out of that hellish place as soon as possible," said Mr Adnan, who rarely left his house during six days of fighting.
US marines went into Falluja last Wednesday in response to the murder and mutilation of four American security contractors. US commanders have vowed to "hunt down" those responsible.
Yesterday, the US military denied the use of indiscriminate force. "We are aware that some civilians have been caught up in the fighting. Operations are focused on taking out rebel insurgents in the city," a US military spokesman said.
In another neighbourhood in Baghdad, 50 refugees hid in a disused bomb shelter, relying on the goodwill of local people to survive. They were among the thousands who walked out of Falluja on Saturday. A 60-year-old man died of exhaustion on the way.
The Falluja left behind was deserted and without clean water or electricity, they said. The injured have no access to hospitals and the dead are often summarily buried in back yards.
Mohammed Hadi (30) described how US marine snipers, who had taken up position in the minarets of a local mosque, shot and killed his neighbour.
"His name was Ali Shihan. He was 65 years old and he was just on his way to buy tomatoes." Refugees said that at the scenes of heavy bombing on the outskirts of the city, families had been left for dead in the rubble.
Hassan Monem (17) described how families buried the dead in their houses after a US attack helicopter had opened fire on mourners at the city's cemetery.
Refugees said 25 people from one extended family were killed in the incident.
"When two of my friends were shot as they stood in my yard, we just had to bury them there and then in the garden," said the 17-year-old.
One of the city's playgrounds has now become a cemetery.
Over the past few days, relief convoys have been organized by Sunni Mosques but have had limited access to the city.
Journalists are denied access by the US military and the threat of kidnapping by insurgents.
The US military said it would continue to restrict access whilst military operations were pending, and that other refugees may not be allowed out.
Dr Najeeb al-Ani spent several hours in Falluja on Saturday as a member of the Iraqi Islamic party who went with a peace delegation.
He collaborated many of the details given by the families.
Dr al-Ani described how six houses had been turned into makeshift hospitals after US marines had seized the city's main hospital on the first day of fighting. Rebels had used the facility as a base of operations.
Few Iraqis have been treated there since, according to Dr al-Ani, and a small civilian hospital near the town centre can only be used after 2 p.m.
The doctor said there were not enough rooms to treat the injured. During a one-hour visit to one house hospital he watched an Iraqi surgeon perform three operations.
"Some neighbours were bringing in a badly injured man. He clutched his leg to stop blood spurting everywhere but the floor was soon awash with blood," said Dr al-Ani.
Most of those injured were from sniper bullets, the doctor said. He explained that those injured from airstrikes and missiles are rarely brought to the hospitals.
"Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in Falluja yesterday. There is no law on earth that can justify what the Americans have done to innocent people."
Mohammed Adnan, now safely in a family home in Baghdad, reflected on the family he had left behind.
His brother, an ambulance driver, was left caring for several family members injured by US shelling.
"I don't know if I'll ever see them again," he said, surrounded by his children. "I used to believe it was a good thing the Americans came to Iraq. Now I have lost all hope until the occupation ends." His wife Hakima said, "There was little resistance in Falluja before this week ... Now everyone belongs to the resistance."