12 Killed in Clashes in Damascus Palestinian Refugee Camp

Rebels, Regime Trade Blame for Attacks on Aleppo Building

Violence continued today in Syria, with multiple high profile incidents, and a major battle erupting overnight in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the capital city of Damascus. At least 12 people were killed and 20 wounded in the camp.

Yarmouk camp initially housed about 150,000 Palestinians under the control of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). More than half the residents have fled, and it is now mostly under control of rebel-backed fighters.

A pair of suicide bombings were also reported in the southern city of Daraa, attacking a mosque where worshippers were just leaving after Friday prayers. Death tolls were as-yet-unclear, but the al-Nusra Front was believed to be responsible for it.

A third incident took place in the northern city of Aleppo, where rockets hit a building in a government-held district, collapsing portions of it and causing a large number of injuries, and by some accounts as many as 12 other deaths. The regime blamed rebels for the attack, while the rebels claimed the regime had inexplicably launched an air strike against its own territory.

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.