Islamic State (IS) militants have entered the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus, activists and Palestinian officials say.

Clashes erupted between the militants and groups inside the camp, with IS seizing control of large parts of the camp, reports said.

The UN says about 18,000 Palestinian refugees are inside the camp.

IS militants have seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq.

But this is the group’s first major attack near the heart of the Syrian capital.

IS fighters had seized control of large parts of the camp, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and an official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation based in Damascus, said.

Yarmouk residents told BBC Arabic that members of Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, a group formed by Palestinian militiamen opposed to the Syrian government, were leading the fight against the IS militants, along with some Free Syrian Army fighters.

Palestinian militiamen were able to retake some areas from IS later on Wednesday, residents told the BBC.

There has been no official statement from IS about the attack.

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ISIS Raids Palestinian Camp and Begins to Fulfill Netanyahu’s Prophecy

Desperate crowd awaits relief aid at Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus.
Photo Credit: UNRWA

The Islamic State (ISIS) has take control over most of a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria from a rival terrorist group in what is a major step towards confirming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s warning that a Palestinian Authority stage would fall under the control of the ISIS.

The Al-Nusra Front, linked with Al Qaeda, opened the road for the ISIS to take over UNRWA’s Yarmouk refugee camp four miles south of central Damascus, according to Anwar Raja, the spokesman for the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Meanwhile, Jordan closed its last remaining border with Syria after pro-Assad forces lost the checkpoint to rebel forces.

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