‘Atrocities’ Reported at Yarmouk Refugee Camp Near Damascus

Palestinians Report ISIS Beheadings as Fighting Continues

Palestinian refugees at the Yarmouk Refugee Camp in metro Damascus are reporting an ugly crackdown on resistance by ISIS, claiming the militants are beheading people after several days of fighting over the camp.

Before the Syrian Civil War, the camp was treated as basically a suburb of Damascus. Now, what was once 200,000 civilians is down to around 10,000, with massive exoduses every time the fighting picks up.

The ISIS takeover is just another step in the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis at the camp, and their arrival has led to barrel bomb strikes, aimed at ISIS forces but inevitably also endangering the civilian populace.

ISIS has been pushing into the camp since Wednesday and is believed to hold 90 percent of it. The camp is their only major possession in the area around Damascus.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.