ISIS seizes large parts of refugee camp in Damascus

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took control of large parts of Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in southern Damascus on Wednesday, witnesses and a monitoring group said, according to Reuters news agency.

“They pushed from the Hajar Aswad area,” one witness said, adding that the violence was ongoing. Yarmouk has been caught between government forces and Syrian insurgent groups including Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ISIS controlled some of the main streets in the camp and that clashes continued.

The witness and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes continued inside the devastated camp where food, medicine and water are scarce.

ISIS fighters, who control large swaths of territory in northern Syria, entered the Yarmouk camp from the nearby Hajar Aswad neighborhood in southern Damascus and were clashing with a Palestinian group inside the camp.

If they gain full control of the camp, they can potentially threaten the heart of the capital.

The Yarmouk camp, home to up to 18,000 people, has been caught between government forces and Syrian insurgent groups including ISIS's rivals such as al Qaeda’s Nusra Front.

[With Reuters]