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Syria says military operation needed in Yarmouk Camp against IS

Xinhua, April 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar said Wednesday the military operation in main camp for Palestinian refugees in Damascus has become a "must," following the infiltration of the Islamic State (IS) group to that area.

The minister made the remarks following his meeting Wednesday with Ahmad Majdalani, the envoy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in Damascus on Monday for meeting with Syrian officials regarding the situation in the Yarmouk Camp, south of Damascus.

"According to the current situation on ground, the military solution for the camp's situation is a must," Haidar told reporters.

He said the "military solution was not the choice of the Syrian government, but those who stormed the camp and broke every effort we have been exerting to establish a national reconciliation there, which was so close to be achieved."

"Anyway, the military operation has already started and there are achievements by the army and the groups fighting with it," he added.

The minister said that reaching a national reconciliation in the camp with the militants who were opposing the government is no longer a priority after the IS stormed that area, adding that the priority now is for dislodging the terrorists and weapons out of the camp.

Over the past two years, the camp had been under the control of Aknaf Beit al-Maqdes, a group of Palestinian militants who sided with the Syrian rebellion against the Syrian government.

The government and allied Palestinian factions in Damascus have repeatedly attempted to establish reconciliation with the Aknaf group, but those attempts have repeatedly been hindered from involved opposition rebels inside the camp.

Sources said the Palestinian official came to ask the Syrian authorities to intervene in the camp to help thwart the IS attack, as only fighters with the Syria-based Palestinian factions were battling against the IS, which has controlled over 90 percent of that large district with the help of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

Meanwhile, Majdalani, the Palestinian envoy, said the main topic of his visit is about discussing the Syrian sovereignty over the Yarmouk Camp as a Syrian territory and the Syrian government's responsibility toward the people of the camp.

"The main topic now is the Syrian sovereignty and responsibility toward the camp and all of the citizens whether Syrians or Palestinians. This is the Syrian responsibility and the Palestinian Authority will back all of the decision taken by the Syrian government."

He said the IS capture of the camp with the help of the Nusra Front has created a "new political reality" in the Yarmouk Camp, noting that "in light of the developing situation in the camp, it would be difficult, at least in the short run, to talk about a political solution to the camp's issue."

The Yarmouk Camp is a large district in southern Damascus. Among its one million residents, 170,000 are Palestinians. Most of them fled to Syria in 1948 following the establishment of the Israeli state. Endit