The Commander of Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, in special statement to Zaman al-Wasl, said his rebel group was defeated by the Islamic State in Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus due to the complicity of al-Qaeda's Syria wing, the Nusra Front, and the weakness of allied groups.
Abu Ahmed Mushir said ISIS had launched a surprise attack on the vast camp with complicity of both Nusra Front and Syrian regime. "We were not capable to resist such a counter attack for long time," he added.
Mushir accused Syrian regime forces of facilitating the movement of ISIS from the neighboring district of al-Hajer al-Aswad to Yarmouk camp.
Islamic State on Saturday took control of 90 percent of Yarmouk where 18,000 civilians have suffered years of bombing, army siege and militia control.
Yarmouk was home to half a million Palestinians before the Syrian conflict began in 2011. The war has killed 220,000 people and displaced millions of Syrians.
The United Nations Security Council said on Monday it would look at how to help some 18,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrian civilians in the camp, Reuters reported.
The hardline group's offensive in Yarmouk gives it a major presence in the capital. Islamic State, the most powerful insurgent group in Syria, is now only a few kilometers from Bashar al-Assad's seat of power.
Yarmouk was home to half a million Palestinians before the Syrian conflict began in 2011. The was has killed 220,000 people and displaced millions.
Yarmouk became a battleground before the siege, and has been devastated by street fighting, air attacks and shelling. The United Nations said 94 civilians had made it out on Sunday, though some 3,500 children were still trapped.
The chief Palestinian delegate at the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, appealed for international help "in any form or shape" to secure a safe evacuation route for civilians out of Yarmouk.
Zaman Al Wasl
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