Islamic State Captures Yarmouk Camp Near Damascus

Reports indicate that militants from the Islamic State group, known as ISIS, have captured key parts of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus. According to Reuters, Saeed Anwar Abdul Hadi, the political affairs chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Damascus, stated that ISIS forces entered the Yarmouk camp today (Wednesday, April 1) and clashes with militants continue. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, announced that ISIS forces have taken control of most parts of the camp. The Yarmouk camp had been besieged by government forces for over a year due to the Syrian civil war, causing the population, which consisted of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, to decrease from about 150,000 to 18,000. The significance of ISIS's advance into this area is that for the first time, Islamic State militants are reaching close to the Syrian capital. Hassan Hassan, an author on the Islamic State, told Reuters that the group has long sought to establish a foothold in the capital, but it seems currently unable to capture it. He added that the Syrian government has created many barriers and military posts along this route to defend and prevent infiltration into the capital, but they are getting closer. According to Reuters, following airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Iraq and northern Syria near the Turkish border, the group has faced challenges in these areas but is now attempting to expand its territory westward into Syria. International organizations and human rights advocates state that the Syrian civil war has resulted in over 220,000 deaths and millions of displaced persons. Meanwhile, international efforts to establish peace and ceasefire have so far yielded no results.