UN demands humanitarian access to Syrian refugee camp seized by Islamic State
Security Council president calls for the 'protection of civilians in the camp' as PLO says IS now holds 60 percent of camp.
The United Nations Security Council is demanding that humanitarian aid be allowed into Yarmouk, the Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus now largely under the control of Islamic State fighters.
Dina Kawar, Jordan's ambassador to the UN and current president of the Security Council, has expressed concern for those still inside the camp.
The Security Council called "for the protection of civilians in the camp for ensuring a humanitarian access to the area including by providing life-saving assistance," Kawar said.
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Islamic State militants stormed the already starved and war-torn Yarmouk on Wednesday, seizing 90 percent of the camp. Residents inside the camp told Ynet of sniper fire in the streets and public beheadings by Islamic State members.
Meanwhile, the PLO said Tuesday that Islamic State fighters had retreated from areas of the camp, the Jordanian media reported.
Islamic State "now controls only 60 percent of Yarmouk camp after they had seized 90 percent of it," PLO official Anwar Abdel-Hadi reportedly told the official Palestinian radio station on Tuesday.
Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, said late Sunday that the agency has not been able to send any food nor any convoys into the camp since the fighting started.
The camp was shelled and struck by clashes Monday, in a situation that Gunness described as "beyond inhumane."
Hatem al-Dimashqi, an activist based in an area just south of Damascus, 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.
