US armored troops prepare to launch an all-out offensive on Iraq's rebel-held city of Fallujah, Nov. 9. The US Marines backed by Iraqi forces entered the centre of the city.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    GENEVA, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The UN's refugee agency said Tuesday it is extremely concerned about the fate of tens of thousands Iraqis fleeing from Fallujah.

    "The majority of civilians appear to have left the city, although it is difficult to establish numbers with any certainty,"a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters.

    "The most immediate needs of the displaced are food, shelter, water, sanitation and health care," she said.

    US troops launched an all-out assault on Iraqi rebels in Fallujah early Monday to retake the city from insurgents and restore security and stability to the region in the run-up to Iraq's planned general elections slated for January 2005.

    UNHCR, which has no presence on the ground in Iraq, is part of a joint emergency group based in Amman composed of the UN, the RedCross and a number of non-governmental organizations.

    Despite the volatile security situation in Iraq, UNHCR has continued to facilitate voluntary repatriation of Iraqis insistingon going home from camps in neighboring Iran.

    Over the past two weeks, 64 Iraqis returned to southern Iraq and more than 700 travelled to the north bringing the total of returns facilitated by UNHCR to 18,115 people since August 2003, the spokeswoman said. Enditem