Islamic State video claims to show Yarmouk capture

Warning: the footage above has been authenticated by AP but cannot be independently verified

According to activists on the ground hundreds of Yarmouk residents fled the camp on Sunday amid shelling by government forces and clashes between Islamic State fighters and Palestinian militants.

The footage shows what appears to be militants firing rifles and chanting Islamic slogans as they advance inside the camp. The clip was belived to have been filmed on 3 April. The video, which could not be independently verified, appeared consistent with AP reporting on events in Yarmouk.

Yarmouk

Yarmouk, once considered a safe haven for 160,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria, is now home to 18,000 people who have been trapped in the one square mile district with limited access to food and water and no electricity.

The Syrian government began its siege of Yarmouk in 2012, forcing its residents to live as prisoners in a violent purgatory. A report by Amnesty International says numerous war crimes have been committed by the government forces in this siege.

However the armed opposition groups have also brought misery to Yarmouk’s residents. Amnesty reports they have mounted their own sieges of areas still loyal to Assad and “interfered with free flow of food” to the citizens there.

Last week a monitoring group said the Islamic State group had seized control of large parts of the camp. A witness said fighters from the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front had joined Islamic State fighters in the battle for Yarmouk.

The two groups are bitter rivals in much of Syria, but rumours emerged towards the end of last year that the groups had formed an alliance.