Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Nearly two million Iraqis have fled their homes and become refugees in other parts of their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the Iraqi Red Crescent (IRC) said in a report.

    The report said that more than 1.93 million people had left their homes by Aug. 31 this year, looking for safer places within their country, creating an "unprecedented human tragedy".

Internally displaced Iraqi boys play in the entrance of their mud and reed hut erected on unoccupied land in the central Al-Karrada neighbourhood of Baghdad, August 2007. Nearly two million Iraqis have fled their homes for other parts of Iraq since the U.S. invasion, creating a "human tragedy without precedence," the country's Red Crescent has said in a report.(Xinhua/AFP File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The figure covers only those who abandoned their homes inside Iraq and does not include the UN-estimated two million others who have also fled but left their homeland completely to neighboring countries of Syria, Jordan and others even left to Europe.

    The humanitarian society IRC said that the number of displaced people increased by 71 percent in August compared to July, with nearly one million people out of five millions people living in Baghdad only have fled their homes.

    Some families have been displaced twice or even three times searching for safety, jobs, adequate schools for their sons and affordable housing.

    According to the IRC report, most of the displaced people were women and children under 12 and "the heads of the families are no longer part of their families. They either fled or joined armed groups."

    "The horror of daily slaughter and attacks has a serious impact on the psychological health of the women and children. The overall picture is that of a human tragedy unprecedented in Iraq's history," said the report.

    The latest figures, which were compiled by IRC staff and volunteers in Iraq's 18 provinces, raises questions about the future of Iraq, particularly about Bush administration's saying that its war strategy is making Iraq safer for Iraqis.