UN official: State of Yarmouk refugee camp 'beyond inhumane'
Official says Palestinian camp under attack from Syrian regime after Islamic State stormed it last week;
Shelling and sporadic clashes struck a Palestinian refugee camp under attack by Islamic extremists in the Syrian capital Monday, a situation that a United Nations official described as "beyond inhumane."
Hatem al-Dimashqi, an activist based in an area just south of Damascus, said the Yarmouk camp was under attack Monday. Both Al-Dimashqi and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said Syrian government's air force has dropped several barrel bombs on the camp since Sunday.
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Islamic State militants stormed the camp Wednesday, marking the extremist group's deepest foray yet into Damascus. Palestinian officials and Syrian activists said they were working with rivals from the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the al-Nusra Front. The two groups have fought bloody battles against each other in other parts of Syria, but appear to be cooperating in the attack on Yarmouk.
Nusra said in a statement it is taking a neutral stance in the camp.
Speaking to Ynet, residents of the camp described scenes of beheadings, sniper fire, barrel bombs and street battles as the warring sides fought for control of the camp.
Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, told The Associated Press in Barcelona late Sunday that the agency has not been able to send any food nor any convoys into the camp since the fighting started.
"That means that there is no food, there is no water and there is very little medicine," he said. "The situation in the camp is beyond inhumane. People are holed up in their houses, there is fighting going on in the streets. There are reports of ... bombardments. This has to stop and civilians must be evacuated."
He said 93 people have been evacuated from the camp so far.
The United Nations says around 18,000 civilians, including a large number of children, are trapped in Yarmouk. The camp has been under government siege for nearly two years, leading to starvation and illnesses.
The camp also has witnessed several rounds of ferocious and deadly fighting between government forces and militants.
Gunness said the camp has been under siege for nearly two years, adding that "things were bad and things got worse when the fighting engulfed the camp."
