Number of Typhoid Cases ‘Nearly Doubles’ in Yarmouk: U.N.

After gaining access to Palestinian refugees in Yalda, an area near the embattled Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus, the United Nations confirmed that the number of confirmed typhoid cases had nearly doubled from six to 11 overnight.

UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, had not accessed the area since early June. Meanwhile, the agency has not been able to enter the Yarmouk camp since March 28, as reported by the New York Times.

Illnesses, including malnutrition, have been rampant in the camp since it was placed under siege in late 2012. The U.N.recently said that although the camp is no longer under siege, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic.

“We fear this is the tip of the iceberg,” Chris Gunness, UNRWA spokesperson, said. In April, Yarmouk was attacked by ISIS, whose fighters took over most of the camp. Although they mostly withdrew, the group maintains a presence.

Suicide Bombing Targets Syrian Kurds

An ISIS suicide bomber killed at least 16 people on Wednesday in an attack on Kurdish fighters in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli.

According to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack killed at least 10 members of Kurdish forces and six civilians. ISIS took credit for the bombing in an online statement, reports Agence France-Press.

“There is a lot of destruction – the buildings on at least two streets have been completely destroyed,” Arin Shekhmos, a local journalist, told AFP.

The Syrian government and Kurdish forces exercise joint control of Qamishli, which was also targeted by bombing attacks in July.

Human Rights Watch Calls for Syrian Government Arms Embargo

The international watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the U.N. to impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government following a brutal attack on the Damascus-area town of Douma on Sunday.

At least 112 civilians are believed to have been killed in the attack, which targeted a marketplace in the town’s center, reports Agence France-Press.

It was one of “the deadliest government assaults” to have taken place throughout Syria’s civil war, now more than four years long, AFP adds.

“This latest carnage is another reminder – if any was still needed – of the urgent need for the Security Council to act on its previous resolutions and take steps to stop indiscriminate attacks,” Nadim Houry, HRW’s Middle East deputy director, said.

Recommended Reads:

• The Guardian: Education Without Borders: Teaching Syria’s Lost Generation
• Newsweek: Inside Aleppo, Syria’s Most War-Torn City
• The Guardian: The World Must Act to Stop Syria’s Suffering
• Middle East Eye: Man Missing Under Rubble in Douma Returns as ‘Living Martyr’ to His Funeral

Photo: At least 112 civilians were killed by Syrian government airstrikes on Douma, near Damascus, on August 16, 2015. (Associated Press)