Number Of Displaced Iraqis Soars After US Troop Increase
James Glanz and Stephen Farrell of the New York Times report that the military surge in Iraq coincides with a dramatic increase in the number of internally displaced Iraqis. Analyzing data from two different humanitarian organizations, Glanz and Farrell write that the number of IDPs has more than doubled to 1.1 million, up from 499,000 in February. Most notable is the sectarian division: Shiite families fleeing from villages expected to fall to Sunni insurgents, and vice versa. Even with the Iraqi army patrolling, Sunni civilians are still fleeing, under the assumption that Shiite militias have infiltrated the national army.
