Life for ordinary Iraqis is getting worse as they try to live with a poor healthcare system, little electricity, a shortage of drinking water and bodies left lying on the streets in unsanitary conditions, according to a report by the Red Cross.

After some of the most intense fighting in Baghdad for two months yesterday, which saw a heavy exchange of gunfire between insurgents and the US military, the bodies of twenty insurgents were still lying in the streets of the capital today.

The report by the Red Cross, published today, said: "The conflict in Iraq is inflicting immense suffering on the entire population. Civilians bear the brunt of the relentless violence and the extremely poor security conditions that are disrupting the lives and livelihoods of millions. Every day, dozens of people are killed and many more wounded.

"Civilians bear the brunt of the relentless violence and the extremely poor security conditions that are disrupting the lives and livelihoods of millions. The plight of Iraqi civilians is a daily reminder of the fact that there has long been a failure to respect their lives and dignity."

A mother living in Baghdad told the Red Cross that dead bodies were a constant reminder of the conflict. “The most important thing that anyone could do would be to help collect the bodies that line the streets in front of our homes every morning. No one dares touching them,” she said.

“For us it is unbearable to have to expose our children to such images every day as we try to bring them to school.”

This morning a community leader from the Jihad area of west Baghdad pleaded with the Iraqi Interior Ministry to clear the bodies from the streets in the area. He said: “We have five bodies in the street and nobody dares to collect them.”

Although the army does most of the fighting, it is left to the police to clear away the dead bodies.

Since the bombing of the Shia shrine of Samarra in February 2006 the increase in violence has seen more than 100,000 people displaced and an ever greater burden on the failing infrastructure in the country, according to the Red Cross report.

Food, electricity and drinking water shortages have created a situation in Iraq which adversely affects everyone in the country, whether or not they are directly impacted by the violence. Displacement, as families flee the most dangerous regions of Iraq, has increased the pressure on services in other parts of the country.

Abu Ahmed, from a displaced family said: "My family is Shiite. We live together with a Sunni family. Both families were forced to leave their homes by militias. There are 30 of us, sharing the same living space: 14 children and 14 adults, and grannies on both sides. We live on an abandoned construction site and protect ourselves from the weather with plastic sheets.”

During the fighting yesterday in the Fadhil district of central Baghdad four Apache helicopters were hit, but not brought down. Sixteen US soldiers were wounded.

James Hider, The Times correspondent in Baghdad, explained that the infrastructure in Iraq was in crisis and showed little sign of improvement. “The entire healthcare system has collapsed. There are so few supplies that there are just 30 intensive care units in Baghdad and people are getting shot every day,” he said. “If you get shot in Iraq, they’ll patch you up, but you are going to die as there is no after care.”

“There are common complaints about water supply and the electricity is off all day, it hasn’t improved since the war. There was a demonstration in Sadr City over the lack of clean water and basic services.”

The Red Cross report is published on the same day as reports from Oxfam and the Oxford Research Group claiming UK foreign policy in Iraq is fermenting further radical support and undermining the UK’s international reputation.

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