Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
In the aftermath of war in Iraq, the civilian population continued to suffer the horrific consequences of the conflict. The enormous amount of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the south of the country led to many more casualties, particularly amongst children. The coalition forces did not fulfill their obligation, under the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to clear areas of ground within towns littered with remnants of the bombing campaign.
Many hospitals were hit during the bombing campaign, or damaged in the looting. Every city suffered from a severe shortage of clean water and cholera became prevalent. Little was been done by the military forces to reconnect the water supply.
Left: Mohammed had three fingers of his hand blown off when the market place in Nazariyah was bombed. His hand had to be amputated because there were no antibiotics to treat him.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A father cries beside the bed of his son, caught in a cluster bomb explosion, Nazariyah.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A family grieve around the bedside of a 25 year old girl caught when an undetonated bomb exploded near her home in Basra. She was suffering from 95% burns and died shortly after this photo was taken.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
Two young boys lie side by side after being admitted to Nazariyah hospital after a cluster bomb, they mistook to be a football, exploded.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
Children play in the ruins of the Baath Party headquarters in Nazariyah. The area was littered with UXO's and land mines; yet the coalition forces, who occupied the town, did not mark off the area, and several children died as a result.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A mother grieves over the death of her young boy, aged 6, killed while playing with a UXO near their home.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
An Iraqi woman begs a US Marine to give her medical help for her husband who was seriously injured after a bomb detonated near their home.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A mother grieves beside the grave of her one young son, killed the previous week when a UXO exploded near their home. The body of her 3 year old daughter awaits burial. Her daughter died after contracting cholera due to lack of clean water following the bombing in Nazariyah.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
The shattered remains of Saddam Hussein’s picture litters the floor of a hospital in Baghdad.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A man sits beside the road in Nazariyah. Both his hands were caught in an explosion when his house was bombed. The doctor told him he must travel 300 kms to Baghdad to have his hands amputated because the hospital in Nazariyah does not have the antibiotics to treat him.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A widow and her daughter stand in the new kitchen they have created for themselves in the basement of a school that was bombed by the coalition forces in Nazariyah. Their own house nearby was destroyed in the same attack.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A father drips water into the mouth of his son Ali, while his brother fans him, after Ali was caught in a cluster bomb
explosion in Nazariyah.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A mother holds the hand of her son so he can feel his worry beads. He lost an arm when a car he was traveling in hit unexploded ordinance near Nazariyah.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A woman stands in what remains of a chicken farm in Nazariyah, after it was bombed by coalition forces, having been mistaken for a military target.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A mother watches over her child who has a severe case of dysentery due to lack of a clean water supply in Basra following the bombing of the town by the coalition forces.
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
A young girl, displaced with her family after their home was destroyed in an attack on a residential area in Nazariyah, looks out through the broken window of a shelter they have created for themselves in a disused school.
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April 2003
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April 2003
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April 2003
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Iraq, Humanitarian Impact of War
April 2003
An old man who suffers from TB lies in the deserted infectious disease hospital in Baghdad. Four weeks since the coalition forces took control of the city there were still no drugs to enable him to continue his treatment and the majority of patients and staff had left.
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