Palestinian officials and activists say fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant battling armed groups inside a refugee camp in the Syrian capital, Damascus, have taken control of most of the camp.
Members of the ISIL stormed the Yarmouk camp on Wednesday but were expelled on Thursday before re-entering the camp on Friday.
Palestinian official Khaled Abdul-Majid said the group was in control of half of the camp.The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict through a network of activists, also reported new advances by the group in the camp, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Abdul-Majid and another official, Anwar Raja, said ISIL members were fighting a Palestinian faction called Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis. Activists said Bait al-Maqdis was now besieged by ISIL and confined to a few streets.
Residents of Yarmouk said the ISIL advance followed the arrest of group members accused of assassinating a leading figure of Bait al Maqdis.
Palestinian factions and Syrian armed groups are among groups fighting for the control of the camp. Others include the Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Free Syrian Army brigades.
Yarmouk was once a thriving area home to 160,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrians but has been caught up in the country’s fighting and besieged by regime forces for more than a year.
About 18,000 residents are estimated to in the camp after many fled the fighting. The siege has caused significant shortages of food, water and medicine inside the camp.
ISIL’s rapid advance across Syrian and Iraqi territory has stagnated since an American-led coalition began an air campaign to stop the group’s.
Members of the ISIL stormed the Yarmouk camp on Wednesday but were expelled on Thursday before re-entering the camp on Friday.
Palestinian official Khaled Abdul-Majid said the group was in control of half of the camp.The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict through a network of activists, also reported new advances by the group in the camp, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Abdul-Majid and another official, Anwar Raja, said ISIL members were fighting a Palestinian faction called Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis. Activists said Bait al-Maqdis was now besieged by ISIL and confined to a few streets.
Residents of Yarmouk said the ISIL advance followed the arrest of group members accused of assassinating a leading figure of Bait al Maqdis.
Palestinian factions and Syrian armed groups are among groups fighting for the control of the camp. Others include the Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Free Syrian Army brigades.
Yarmouk was once a thriving area home to 160,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrians but has been caught up in the country’s fighting and besieged by regime forces for more than a year.
About 18,000 residents are estimated to in the camp after many fled the fighting. The siege has caused significant shortages of food, water and medicine inside the camp.
ISIL’s rapid advance across Syrian and Iraqi territory has stagnated since an American-led coalition began an air campaign to stop the group’s.
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