PLO: IS close to ousting al-Qaeda ally from Palestinian camp in Syria

DAMASCUS — The Islamic State group has almost evicted rival al-Qaeda jihadists from a Palestinian camp in southern Damascus after two weeks of clashes, a Palestinian official said on Friday.

“Daesh has chased al-Nusra, its former ally in the Yarmouk camp, from 90 percent of the territory it controlled,” the Palestine Liberation Organization chief in Damascus, Anwar Abdel Hadi, said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Fighting between IS and al-Nusra over the past two weeks in the camp has also killed five civilians and wounded 20. Abdel Hadi said he did not have a toll for casualties among the fighters.

Once a thriving district that was home to some 160,000 Syrians and Palestinians, Yarmouk has been devastated since late 2012.

The Syrian army imposed a tight siege on the camp that reportedly led to deaths because of shortages of food and medicines.

Al-Nusra and IS had together controlled 70 percent of Yarmouk since April 2015, according to the PLO official.

Palestinian factions and pro-government forces — who control the rest of the camp — did not take part in the latest fighting.

The Palestinian official said some 6,000 civilians remain in Yarmouk alongside around 3,000 IS fighters there and in the nearby Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood. al-Nusra has around 300.

Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN aid agency for Palestinians, said on Thursday ending the fighting and humanitarian access to Yarmouk was needed urgently.

“Residents in Yarmouk remained trapped, humanitarian conditions are dire,” he said.

“UNRWA remains concerned about reports on the lack of access to fresh water.”