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Fighting continued on Sunday for a fifth day with the Islamic State in Yarmouk camp in southern Damascus.

Palestinian militia and rebels tried to repel the jihadists after they took much of the area, home to about 15,000 Palestinian refugees. Activists claimed that video showed the defenders retaking Yarmouk’s cultural center.

The Palestinian Network of Civil Society in Syria said the general “situation is unchanged” but that the Islamic State, supported by Jabhat al-Nusra, had been pushed back and “lost many areas”. It said that civilians — besieged by the Syrian military since July 2012 — continue to suffer, with cut-offs of electricity, water, and food.

A spokesman for the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam claimed 70 Islamic State fighters have been killed and more than 125 wounded.

The jihadists were supported not only by pro-Assad Palestinian factions but also shelling and airstrikes by the Syrian military, according to the Network.

The UN said 94 civilians, including 43 women and 20 children, were evacuated from the camp on Sunday, while an estimated 1,500 civilians have left since Wednesday for the nearby, rebel-controlled towns of Beit Sahem and Yalda.

UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said, “There have been some civilians who were able to flee the camp earlier today and we call on all parties to show maximum restraint so other civilians who wish to leave can be evacuated.”

The Islamic State entered the camp on Wednesday amid a dispute with a local Palestinian group, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, that began with the assassination of a Palestinian activist inside the camp on Monday.

Al Jazeera English’s report on the fighting:


Picture: A Sign of Jabhat al-Nusra-Free Syrian Army Cooperation in “Liberated” Idlib

Abdullah al-Moheisini of Jabhat al-Nusra (right) shakes hands with a Free Syrian Army fighter in Idlib in northwest Syria, captured by rebels nine days ago:

JABHAT AL-NUSRA FSA IDLIB

Photos of 52 Abused Children Found Among 1000s of Pictures of Slain Detainees

The opposition site Zaman al-Wasl has posted graphic images of 52 children killed by security forces.

The pictures are among 55,000 photos of 11,000 killed detainees, brought out of Syria by a military photographer in early 2014. The abuse and killings reportedly took place near a military hospital within sight of President Assad’s palace in southern Damascus.

See Syria Feature: A Regime “Torture Camp” Only 500 Meters from Assad’s Presidential Palace?