War Turns Fallujah Into a Ghost City

[Quetzal]

War Turns Fallujah Into a Ghost City

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - Al-Sina'a Street, the main avenue through this central city, normally bustles with traffic and crowds of shoppers. After nearly a monthlong siege, it is peopled only by a few police and insurgents.

Inside Fallujah, the damage is stark from the fighting that began after the Americans surrounded the city on April 5 - charred vehicles and debris litter streets lined by burned-out buildings. Residents avoid areas close to front lines, fearing American sniper fire.

Nearly a third of Fallujah's 200,000 people fled the fighting, but U.S. officials say a deal has been struck for an Iraqi force to take control of the city and end the bloody siege. Some have begun to return and it was possible to survey some of the devastation Friday.

Damage was severe on Fallujah's Old Market Street, close to the bridge over the Euphrates River where the charred bodies of two American contractors were strung up last month.

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http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/i/1107/5-1-2004/20040501004501_12.html