Inside Falluja: Conditions as residents return

About 2,000 residents of the Iraqi city of Falluja are being allowed back into the city for the first time since the American-led assault in the city in November. The BBC News website spoke to Dr Saleh Hussein Isawi, the acting director of the Falluja general hospital to get a picture of the city some of the residents are returning to.

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People started to return at about 0900 this morning. I've no idea how many, but we've seen a light stream of cars and vans coming across the bridge - some piled high with belongings.

I've been on several tours of the city and I'd estimate that 70% of it is destroyed and beyond repair Dr Saleh Hussein Isawi

Apparently they are heading for the centre of the city, the Andalus neighbourhood.

The general hospital, from where I'm talking, is nearly ready. We've been working very hard here these last days to be prepared and all the re-building here will be finished in five days or less.

Apart from the hospital, there are two health centres in the city that can claim to be operating even a little. There's one in the Jolan district that was not too badly damaged in the fighting and is being rebuilt and re-supplied. And there's one in the Jumhuriya area which has been started from scratch since the fighting died down, though this is not ready to receive patients yet.

Fighting continues every night in the city. It's not heavy and I'm not sure whether the sounds of gunfire we hear are between American soldiers and insurgents. There continue to be occasional air strikes. The fighting has seemed to be heavier these last two nights.

There is no water or electricity supply in most of the city.

At the hospital, we have a partial mains supply and depend on a generator for most of our electricity.

This will be the same in nearly all parts of the city, though most people will not be able to afford generators. Water will come from tankers for now, as water and electricity engineers do their work.

I've been on several tours of the city and I'd estimate that 70% of it is destroyed and beyond repair.

Despite the conditions, I think that most people who are given the choice to return will return - maybe the men at first, then later their families.

This is because the conditions in the camps they are staying in outside Falluja are not fit for human habitation. The winter is with us and people want to be back in their homes, even if they spend months rebuilding them.