INDEPTH: IRAQ
Fallujah - City in chaos
CBC News Online | April 2, 2004
One of two vehicles ambushed in Fallujah
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Media Controversy
On March 31, 2004, four American civilians were dragged from their burning vehicles and killed. Their bodies were mutilated. A crowd of more than 1,000 beat and dragged the corpses behind automobiles and hung the remains from a bridge spanning the Euphrates River. City residents told reporters the incident was the most savage they have witnessed since the coalition occupation began. The series of events were recorded on film and many of the grisly images were broadcast worldwide in the media.
Quick Facts
- Fallujah is in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar.
- Known as "City of Mosques."
- Pop. 285,000 (2004 est.)
- Founded in the fourth century.
- Located in the "Sunni triangle," an area north and west of Baghdad considered to be Iraq's most volatile region during and since the invasion of Iraq.
- Iraq's network of highways and railroads began in 1914 when the country had only two main roads – one from Baghdad to Fallujah and the other from Mosul to Mardin, Turkey.
- Early in the Gulf War, a British jet intending to bomb a bridge accidentally dropped two laser-guided bombs on a crowded Fallujah market. Another failed attempt resulted in the bombing of a built-up area. Finally, four laser-guided bombs were dropped over the Fallujah Bridge. Still, only one of the four hit the bridge, with two falling into the Euphrates River and one hitting another town market. A nearby chemical plant was also bombed in the 1991 war.
- Continues to be a site of frequent protests, murders and bombings. The four-lane main street is cratered, cracked and charred from the almost daily attacks and fighting between U.S. military convoys and resistance fighters.
- Erupted as a flashpoint in the current conflict on April 28, 2003, when coalition soldiers fired on a group of protesters in front of a school, killing 15 and wounding several others. The military said soldiers were firing in self-defence. Resistance fighters disagree.
- In November 2003, a bomb destroyed the office of Mayor Taha Bedawi, who was appointed in April 2003 by tribal sheiks. Bedawi, who was subsequently forced to leave his post, was known to co-operate with U.S. forces.
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