Syria Offers Palestinians Weapons to Battle ISIS Advance on Yarmouk
Syria has said it is prepared to offer weapons to Palestinians stranded in Yarmouk Refugee Camp to aid their battle with the Islamic State group, who seized parts of the camp, located just outside Damascus, AFP reports.
Fierce clashes that marked the ISIS occupation of the camp on April 1 have ceased. However, regime forces continue to barrel bomb the camp.
The deteriorating conditions inside the camp prompted the U.N. to seek greater access to civilians trapped between intruding ISIS militants and government forces that have besieged the area.
In Damascus, Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Meqdad met with a delegation from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headed by Ahmad Majdalani.
“Syrian authorities are ready to support the Palestinian fighters in a number of ways, including militarily, to push IS out of the camp,” said Anwar Abdul Hadi, a PLO official who attended the meeting.
Palestinian officials under the leadership of Majdalani said that they had “agreed on the need for a unified position for the Palestinian forces in Syria, in coordination with the Syrian government.”
If finalized, the deal would represent a breakthrough, considering most of the Palestinian factions living in Yarmouk are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The arrival of ISIS inside the camp is particularly alarming for Damascus because it is the closest the group has ever been to the capital.
In a meeting with the council, Pierre Krahenbuhl, who heads the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, described the situation in Yarmouk as “more desperate than ever.”
Krahenbuhl said, “What civilians in Yarmuk are most concerned about right now is bare survival.”
Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp has been besieged by fighting between Syrian government forces and rebel groups since 2012. Thousands of Palestinian refugees are trapped inside the camp, facing starvation, malnutrition and disease and with inadequate access to clean water and electricity.
Car Bombs and Clashes Rock Strategic City in Northern Syria as ISIS Seeks Expansion
Two car bombs and heavy clashes erupted on Tuesday in a strategic city in northern Syria controlled by Islamist groups including Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, as Islamic State militants sought to extend their range.
“The attacks targeted compounds belonging to Islamic opposition groups in the countryside north of Aleppo, a strategic stretch of territory because of its proximity to neighboring Turkey. Long a stronghold for Syrian rebels, the area has been a flash point since the Islamic State group advanced into the region several months ago,” AP reports.
There were two car bombs on positions in and near Marea, which is controlled by Islamist militants and the al-Nusra Front,” said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
According to the Observatory, the first bomb hit the city of Marea, killing seven people, including two rebel commanders. Eight people died in a second bomb attack, which detonated near the city.
Following the attacks, ISIS militants clashed with Islamist groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, in an attempt to “expand their reach” and encroach on the provincial capital of Aleppo.
SOHR does not yet have information on the casualties from the fighting.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but it is suspected that the Islamic State was behind the attacks.
Also on Tuesday, the Lebanese army said it killed three jihadists and wounded four others in a raid on a strategic hill near the border with Syria.
“The military said in a statement that it carried out the raid in the hills of Mkhairmeh based on information that ‘terrorist groups’ were preparing logistics for combat operations there,” AP writes.
Recommended Reads
- The Telegraph: In Syria’s War, Alawites Pay Heavy Price for Loyalty to Bashar-al Assad
- Newsweek: ISIS Defeats Could Trip Global Terror Campaign
- The Washington Post: Syrian Rebel Takeover of Border Crossing Severs Ancient Link to Jordan
- BBC: Syria Crisis: A Brush with the Brutal World of Child Refugees
Photo Courtesy of AP Images