Press Statement
Salem Al Meslet
Spokesperson of the Syrian Coalition
April 04, 2015
It is extremely alarming that ISIS thugs have reportedly taken large parts of the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk, south of the capital Damascus. Nearly 18,000 civilians have been under siege by Assad militias for two years. Vulnerable civilians, the majority of whom are women, children and the elderly, remain trapped in the camp with no access to basic needs.
Civilians in Syria continue to suffer from the brutality of both Assad and ISIS. We call on the international community to take concrete immediate steps to protect the civilians of Yarmouk, who are now at grave risk of being killed, injured, displaced once again, or mistreated.
Palestinian armed groups alongside the Free Syrian Army are fighting to prevent ISIS from establishing a foothold in Damascus, but they remain under-equipped and exposed to shelling by Assad’s militias.
A comprehensive strategy is needed whereby ISIS is degraded in Syria for rolling back ISIS in Iraq will not eliminate the threat the terrorist group pose so long as they can regroup in Syria and launch fresh assaults across the region.
