Jihadists from the Islamic State group have lost ground to Palestinian fighters in Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp, Palestinian officials and a resident say on Tuesday.
IS fighters have retreated from much of the territory they seized in the camp in southern Damascus after entering it on April 1, a resident using the pseudonym Samer tells AFP.
“We haven’t even seen any Daesh members in over three days,” he says, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
The withdrawal is confirmed by an official from a pro-Syrian regime Palestinian faction fighting against IS inside the camp.
“There are intermittent but ongoing clashes between Palestinian factions and IS,” says Khaled Abdel Majid, head of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, adding that IS had withdrawn from most of the neighborhoods it previously controlled.
IS fighters were now confined largely to the southwest of the camp, with Palestinian factions — both pro- and anti-Syrian regime — controlling most of the east and north of the camp, Palestinian sources say.
A general view showing the destruction in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, April 6, 2015. (photo credit: AFP/STR)
— AFP
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