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ISIL Captures Most of Yarmuk Refugee Camp in Syria

© AP Photo / UNRWA, FileResidents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queue to receive food supplies, Syria
Residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queue to receive food supplies, Syria - Sputnik International
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Islamic State jihadists seized the largest part of the Yarmuk refugee camp in south Damascus.

Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary fighters hold an Islamist State flag, which they pulled down in Tikrit, March 31, 2015. - Sputnik International
Iraqi Forces Liberate Tikrit From Islamic State
Part of the Syrian armed opposition has pledged allegiance to ISIL and helped them to enter Yarmuk.

A skirmish between ISIL, al-Nusra and Palestinian faction Akhnaf Beit al-Maqdis is currently taking place there.

Yarmuk used to be a home to 160,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria before it had been caught up in the fighting for over a year and most of the residents fled.

A camp resident told Sputnik that civilians were in panic as bullets were flying in the streets of Yarmuk.

The delivery of humanitarian aid from the Syrian government, UNRWA and "Red Crescent" to Yarmuk has been interrupted as the al-Nusra militants used to fire at the humanitarian convoys.

"Fighters from IS [ISIL] launched an assault this morning on Yarmuk and they took over the majority of the camp," Anwar Abdel Hadi, director of political affairs for the Palestine Liberation Organization in Damascus, said.

In 2014, the Islamic State took large territories in Iraq and Syria and established a caliphate. Affiliated groups operate in North Africa, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan. ISIL recruits fighters from around the world.

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