The number of victims of the massacre that was carried out by the Assad regime forces in the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus on Friday rose to 16 as residents trapped in the ravaged district issued appeals for an urgent humanitarian truce and the opening of safe passages for them to get out of the area.
Local activists said that the massacre took place after the Assad regime air force targeted an underground shelter holding dozens of civilians, indicating that the victims included a woman and her two children.
Activists pointed out that the aerial bombardment was relentless and targeted residential buildings and underground shelters where hundreds of civilians are hiding.
Civilians trapped inside the Yarmouk refugee camp, Al-Hajar al-Aswad, and Al-Tadamon districts in southern Damascus called upon the international community to secure a humanitarian truce and ensure the urgent opening of safe passages out of the area.
In a report released on May 6, the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria (AGPS) said that at least 45 Palestinian refugees were killed in different parts of Syria last April as the Assad regime was launching a ferocious onslaught on the Yarmouk camp, the largest camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria.
In late April, Syrian-Palestinian and Arab writers, artists and intellectuals have issued a humanitarian appeal to save Yarmouk camp from the systematic destruction being carried out by the Assad regime. They stressed that “the onslaught on Yarmouk camp aims to eliminate the strongest evidence on the 1948 Palestinian exodus, also known as the Nakba, thus doing the Israeli occupation an invaluable service.“
In a statement, the writers, artists and intellectuals condemned all “forces that stand on the side of the Assad regime and cover up its crimes against its people and against our people, including the crime of destroying Yarmouk camp.” (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
