The head of the PLO in Syria, Anwar Abdel-Hadi, said Wednesday that clashes between Daesh (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front militants were ongoing and that Daesh had taken control of 70 percent of the camp.
Abdel-Hadi said that the Palestinians in the camp were trapped and could not leave their homes due to the fierce gun battles.
The PLO chief added that the Nusra Front allowed Daesh to enter the Yarmouk refugee camp last year but the two terrorist groups had since turned against one another.
He said at least 20 people in the camp had been beheaded and buried with their identities still unknown.
Some 3,000 Daesh militants have been deployed in Yarmouk and the neighboring Hajar al-Aswad area, the PLO head said.
According to Abdel-Hadi, Daesh terrorists have used their tactics of rape, beheading and torture to force residents of the camp to adhere to their ideology.
“We have asked for a truce to be called in order for the sick and injured to be allowed safe exit from the camp but IS refused,” he said, in reference to Daesh (ISIL / ISIS).
The camp was once home to 160,000 Syrians and Palestinians. However, it has turned into a ghost town as a result of the violent attacks by anti-government militants over the past five years of tumult in Syria.
The majority of Yarmouk’s population has fled to other Syrian towns and cities, with some making their way to Arab and European countries.
Over the past few months, the Syrian army, backed by the Russian air power, has been making major gains against terrorist groups, recapturing several strategic areas from the Takfiris.
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