Palestinians flee as jihadis overwhelm Damascus refugee camp

Militants from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) have seized nearly all of a Damascus district just outside the city centre, activists said, amid reports of atrocities in the besieged neighbourhood.

Activists on Saturday said the jihadi group may succeed in cementing a foothold in the Syrian capital, a move that would increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's seat of power as he tries to fight a four-year revolt against his rule.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 90 per cent of Yarmouk was in Isis hands.

Originally established as a Palestinian refugee camp, Yarmouk is a densely packed neighbourhood of Damascus that once housed half a million people. The 18,000 remaining residents, who have suffered repeated bombardment and siege during Syria's civil war, are trapped by air strikes and fierce fighting between Isis and Palestinian militias.

Isis supporters have posted pictures of fighters beheaded by the jihadi group during the battle, sparking outrage among Palestinians across the region.

"Reports of kidnappings, beheadings and mass killings are coming out from Al- Yarmouk," said Saeb Erekat, an member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's executive committee, based in the West Bank. "The priority must be to save the Palestinian refugees in the camp by creating a safe passage for them out of the death trap that Al-Yarmouk has become."

He called on the UN, the International Committee for the Red Crescent (ICRC) and the Syrian government to help evacuate civilians. "Time is quickly running out."

A media outlet inside the camp said local fighters helped two groups of residents to flee, but it is unclear how many remain. Yarmouk Camp News published photos of elderly residents and first aid workers sheltered in schools.

Damascus residents said the sound of air strikes and fighting was reverberating across nearby districts. "Our building is shaking from the explosions and air raids," said a woman living near Yarmouk. "It's terrifying."

The fighting in Yarmouk shows how convoluted Syria's civil war has become. The main group fighting Isis inside the camp is Aknaf Beit al-Makdis, an offshoot of the Islamist Palestinian group, Hamas, which has fought with the Syrian rebels.

Two opposition sources told the Financial Times the Syrian army had allowed a Palestinian militia allied to Assad forces to send weapons to the Hamas offshoot fighting in Yarmouk.

"It's an extremely rare thing for the government to do anything even remotely co-operating with the opposition," said one activist who asked not to be named. "That shows you how desperate the regime is to stop Isis from having gateway right to heart of the capital for car bombs or whatever other atrocities."

Some opposition members say al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra, which has usually fought against Isis, may be helping its jihadi rival to take Yarmouk. Three large rebel groups outside Damascus formed a joint operations room to try to help fighters in Yarmouk but accuse Nusra fighters of blocking their entry, a charge the al-Qaeda affiliate denies.

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation