Syria-based Palestinians gain ground against militants

Foreign-backed militants take position on a front line in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. (file photo)

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Palestinians in the Yarmouk refugee camp near the Syrian capital Damascus have gained strategic ground in their fight against foreign-backed militants, Press TV reports.

Their recent victory has forced the militants present in the camp to accept a ceasefire with the refugees. Palestinian leaders in the camp believe that if the initiative continues to be implemented, the camp will be fully secured soon.

“The initiative started to be implemented yesterday. Al-Nusra Front militants withdrew... yesterday,” Ghazi Dabour, a military leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), told Press TV on Monday.

Large numbers of armed groups are reportedly fortified in the camp, some affiliated to al-Qaeda like al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham and others to the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA).

“We were able to break the security lines of the militants and enter the al-Rija Square. The militants were completely surprised when they suddenly found us surrounding them on the top of the buildings,” Khaled Jibril, a military leader of the PFLP-GC, said.

Yarmouk houses thousands of people. The residents have been experiencing hard times since foreign-backed militants took control of the camp.

The United Nations said at least 15 people have died from malnutrition there.

Many people have reportedly died in Yarmouk over the past few months because of food and medical shortages in the camp.

Source: Press TV