IRAQ: A ban on motor vehicles in Falluja due to security concerns further taxes war-weary residents

Record ID: 561276

  • Title: IRAQ: A ban on motor vehicles in Falluja due to security concerns further taxes war-weary residents
  • Date: 28th June 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MEN RIDING BICYCLES IN STREETS OF FALLUJA DRIVING SHOT FROM BICYCLE OF STREETS OF FALLUJA
  • Embargoed: 13th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA875VZWDG2IG5SKN9RKJ8RF1RV
  • Story Text: Residents of the western Iraqi city of Falluja are using outdated means of transportation after a police decision to ban the driving of motor vehicles in the city, and say it is adversely affecting their daily life and their businesses.

    An indefinite ban on using all types of motor vehicles in the western Iraqi city of Falluja is further taxing war-weary residents who say the restriction, imposed by the Iraqi police late last month, is severely harming their day-to-day life and the town's economy.
    Under the ban, the residents of the city that has seen some of Iraq's worst fighting since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country are now forced to walk long distances in scorching heat that can reach 45 degrees celsius or to use primitive and hitherto largely obsolete means of transportation.
    "We started working with carts because of the ban that was imposed on the city of Falluja. No cars or other (vehicles) are allowed to operate. We used to work on moving goods but now we work on transporting people," said Khudeir Ali, who now drives a mule-led cart which he uses as a taxi.
    Falluja local police imposed the ban on all except police vehicles on May 31 after they found and diffused three car bombs in the city, a stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgency 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad in the restive Anbar province. The ban will be in place until further notice, police said.
    Residents say the move will make life even harder in Falluja, which was devastated in April 2004 when US troops launched a major attack on insurgents in the area. The attack left 70 percent of the city destroyed.
    The city's fate worsened after a second US-led assault in November 2004. It has since witnessed numerous deadly attacks and heavy fighting.
    Most recently, at least 19 people were killed and 25 others were wounded on June 5 when a suicide bomber blew up his car in a market just outside Falluja on Tuesday, police said.
    Hospital sources said most of the victims were women and children.
    The residents add that the ban is stopping people from reaching their businesses and places of work, crippling Falluja's already battered economy.
    "Cars are not allowed to drive now. People use carriages and carts, as if we were living in the pre-Islamic era, hundreds of years ago. The people have no work now. There will be no change to the situation in the city of Falluja," resident Naji al-Zobai said.
    Alongside the ban, Iraqi and U.S.-led security forces have decided to seal three of the seven entrances to the city. Movement through the city's entrances has, since the November 2004 battle of Falluja, been regulated by military checkpoints which allow passage only to residents holding special identity cards issued by the U.S.-led forces.
    Alongside the vehicle ban, Iraqi police have also extended the night curfew. It is now imposed at 6:00 pm local time, two hours earlier than before, and is still lifted at 6:00 am.
    The city's older residents say they are among the hardest hit by the new regime, which makes it more difficult for them to receive medical care.
    "The situation is not good. We the elderly people who suffer from chronic diseases are forced to walk. There are no jobs, no oil and no gas. We are starving. We are experiencing a hard life. Our men are jobless and those who have their own cars can not work them. Our life is difficult," said resident Najma Hashim.
    The city was home to some 350,000 people before 2003, but since then about 30 percent of the population has fled, according to local government officials.
    According to local estimates, the war has damaged 70 percent of Falluja's buildings, with 20 percent totally destroyed, including 60 of the city's 200 or so mosques.
    About 10 percent of the city's remaining inhabitants have had their homes destroyed and are waiting for government compensation. Falluja residents say they have not seen any development or reconstruction activity.
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