BEIRUT — Civilians trapped in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria’s capital fled to safer areas Saturday amid shelling and clashes between Palestinian armed factions and Islamic militants who took over most of the camp, Syrian activists said.
A Damascus-based Palestinian official, Khaled Abdul-Majid, said the militants controlled about half of the Yarmouk camp, on the southern edge of Damascus. Islamic State militants stormed the camp Wednesday, marking the extremist group’s deepest foray yet into the capital. Palestinian officials and Syrian activists said they were working with rivals from the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front. The two groups have fought bloody battles against each other in other parts of Syria, but appear to be cooperating in the attack on Yarmouk.
The Islamic State group’s presence in Yarmouk gives it an important foothold only a few miles away from President Bashar Assad’s seat of power. It also gives the group a potential sanctuary where U.S.-led coalition forces were unlikely to strike because of the camp’s proximity to Damascus.
The United Nations says about 18,000 civilians, including children, are trapped in Yarmouk. The camp has been under government siege for nearly two years, leading to starvation and illnesses caused by lack of medical aid. Most of the camp’s estimated 160,000 inhabitants fled in late 2012. Only the poorest remained.
