Massacre unfolding in Yarmouk: UN chief
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that a “massacre” is taking place at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria in the face of brutal attacks by the ISIL terrorist group.
“What is unfolding in Yarmouk is unacceptable,” Ban told reporters in New York on Thursday, adding, “We simply cannot stand by and watch a massacre unfold” at Yarmouk, which lies near the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The remarks came as several Palestinian factions on Thursday announced their readiness to support a joint military operation with Syrian government forces against the Takfiri group, which controls more than 90 percent of the Palestinian refugee camp.
Syria had earlier said that it is prepared to offer Palestinians its firepower to support their battle with the ISIL Takfiri terrorists at Yarmouk.
In his Thursday remarks, Ban also warned that Yarmouk “is beginning to resemble a death camp.”
“In the horror that is Syria, the Yarmouk refugee camp is the deepest circle of hell,” Ban said, calling for a halt to the clashes so aid can be delivered to the civilians trapped inside the camp.
ISIL, which currently controls parts of Iraq and Syria, launched an attack on the Yarmouk refugee camp on April 1.
The United Nations has said nearly 18,000 civilians, including a large number of children, are caught up in the camp. Palestinian fighters affiliated with Palestinian resistance movement Hamas have reportedly engaged the ISIL terrorists to drive them out of the camp.
On Tuesday, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad met Palestinian officials to discuss the situation in Yarmouk.
Meqdad said the “Syrian government had used all its efforts to present humanitarian and medical aid to Palestinian refugees and that it had helped them exit Yarmouk safely.”
Anwar Abdul Hadi, an official of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who was present in the meeting, said, “Syrian authorities are ready to support the Palestinian fighters in a number of ways, including militarily, to push ISIL out of the camp.”
“Syria and the PLO are determined to fight terrorism, which has reached Palestinian camps in Syria, notably Yarmouk,” he said.
According to Abdul Hadi, Syrian government troops had assisted in the evacuation of the residents of the camp as Palestinian forces continued the battle to hold off the Takfiri ISIL elements.
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