Aid has started to flow into the Iraqi city of Fallujah following the US-led assault earlier this month in which 2,000 people were killed.
The Iraqi Red Crescent aid agency says it has opened an office near the city centre and has begun dispatching food, water and medicine.
The agency estimates there are 160 people struggling to live in ruined buildings in the city which is still without running water and electricity.
Iraq election delay is ruled out
The chairman of Iraq's electoral commission, Abdel Hussein al-Hindawi, has ruled out any postponement of the general election due to take place at the end of January.
He was responding to a request by 17 organisations, including leading political parties, that the date be reconsidered because of security problems and inadequate preparations.
After convening his commission to consider the suggestion, Mr Hindawi told reporters any delay was out of the question.
The parties that signed the document included Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord and the two main Kurdish parties.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had insisted on Tuesday that the elections would be held 'whatever the situation'.
US soldier killed north of Baghdad
A US soldier was killed this morning in a roadside bomb attack on a military vehicle north of Baghdad.
The attack took place near the town of Dhuluiyah, south of the Sunni city of Samarra.
And a roadside bomb detonated in one of Baghdad's busiest streets earlier, killing two people and injuring at least 15.
The bomb went off at around 9am local time (6am Irish) close to the Iraqi central bank on Rasheed Street, one of the capital's most crowded areas.
It was not immediately clear who was the target of the attack.
