News / Syria

PLO backs out of military operation to remove ISIL from Yarmouk

Friday, 10 April 2015 3:36 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 April 2015 3:35 PM ]

This shot taken on April 6, 2015 shows destruction in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, Damascus. (© AFP)

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) says it has no intention to join Syrian troops in driving out the ISIL terrorists occupying Yarmouk refugee camp near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

In a statement released by the PLO from its headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, senior PLO officialو Wasel Abu Yousefو said the organization will not get involved in military operations in Syria.

Yousef said PLO officials prefer to facilitate the evacuation of Yarmouk’s besieged residents through a safe passage route which would also help deliver humanitarian supplies.

The PLO official’s statement contradicts earlier comments by the Palestinian senior envoy to Damascus, Ahmed Majdalani, that 14 Palestinian factions backed the idea of a joint military operation with the Syrian army to expel the ISIL terrorists from Yarmouk.

In the meantime, a group of Palestinian fighters are already battling the terrorists inside the camp. Some fighters from Aknaf Beit al-Maqdes group have joined forces with pro-Syrian Palestinian factions and are together fighting ISIL and al-Nusra Front terrorists there.

This photo shows the inside of a demolished building in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital Damascus on April 6, 2015. (© AFP)

The terrorist group launched an attack on Yarmouk on April 1, swiftly taking control of most of the camp, sparking international concern for the well-being of the residents trapped inside.

Around 20,000 people, mostly Palestinian refugees, are inside Yarmouk, which once housed 160,000 Syrians and Palestinians. Hundreds of residents, who have managed to escape the camp since the ISIL occupation, present a horrific image of the situation there and the Takfiris' atrocities inside Yarmouk.

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