US soldiers carried an injured marine to a helicopter in Fallujah, Nov. 10, 2004. US-Iraqi forces continued street battles on Thursday as US aircraft and artillery kept pounding insurgent positions and sniper nests in the rebel-held Iraqi city of Fallujah. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) US soldiers carried an injured marine to a helicopter in Fallujah, Nov. 10, 2004.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) A building in Fallujah was hit by bombs, Nov. 10, 2004.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    GENEVA, Nov. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday that it is extremely concerned about the fate of civilians caught up in fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

    "We have two main humanitarian concerns in Fallujah. First, that civilians are still trapped in the city. They need to be spared from attacks," Rana Sidani, a senior official of the Geneva-based agency, said in an interview with a Swiss official website Swissinfo.

    "Our second concern is that there are many injured civilians who are in the part of the city which is not under the control of the multinational forces," she added.

    Sidani said she hoped the message would be heard by United States military authorities in Iraq.

    Around 10,000 US marines, soldiers and Iraqi forces have been involved in the assault on Fallujah, located 65 km west of the capital, Baghdad.

    According to the US military, hundreds of insurgents have been killed in fighting in Fallujah since the latest offensive on the city started on Monday.

    There are no official figures on the number of civilian casualties, but the ICRC said it, together with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, is providing food, water and medical supplies to thousands of citizens of Fallujah who have fled the city. Enditem