PHOTO: Message in Yarmouk in southern Damascus: “I will not leave from Yarmouk camp except to Palestine

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The head of the UN’s relief agency has told the UN Security Council that the remaining 18,000 civilians in Yarmouk camp in Syria’s capital Damascus are fighting for “bare survival”.

The Security Council convened on Monday, the sixth day of fighting between the Islamic State — supported by pro-Assad Palestinian militias and local units of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra — and other Palestianian groups and rebels.

The jihadists occupy part of the camp, home to mainly Palestinian refugees, after entering last Wednesday amid a dispute with the Palestinian faction Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency, told the Council, “What the civilians in Yarmouk are most concerned about right now is bare survival. It’s as simple and straightforward as that.”

Speaking from Jordan’s capital Amman, Krahenbuhl suggested Security Council envoys visit Yarmouk because “nothing replaces seeing a situation for oneself and having to confront the realities on the ground”.

The UN has moved out only about 100 civilians from Yarmouk, although hundreds of others have been able to flee to other rebel-held Damascus suburbs.

The dispute began eight days ago when a leading Palestinian activist, who directed education and training programs at a Yarmouk hospital, was assassinated. Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis blamed the Islamic State and detained 10 of their members. The jihadists then attacked from their main position in al-Hajar al-Aswad, to the south of the camp.

The fighting has been compounded by shelling and bombing by Syrian forces. Activists claim that multiple bombs, airstrikes, and mortar shelling hit Yarmouk on Saturday and Sunday.

Free Syrian Army fighters battling the Islamic State:


Video: Rebels Claim Advance Near Kafr al-Sham, South of Damascus

Rebels are claiming an advance, pushing back regime gains from earlier this year, south of Damascus.

The opposition put out a video claiming the capture of a Syrian military checkppint near Kafr al-Shams:

In early February, Syrian forces, assisted by Hezbollah and Iranian units, launched a major offensive to claim territory and push rebels back from the southern perimeter defense of the capital. They made limited gains, including the town of Deir al-Addas, but were checked along a 20-km (12-mile) line in southern Damascus and northern Daraa Provinces.

See Syria Daily, March 4: Assad Regime Renews Its Offensive South of Damascus

Deadly Regime Airstrike on Busra al-Sham in South — But Were the Victims Children or Commanders?

Opposition activists say civilians, including children, were killed by a regime airstrike on Monday on the historic town of Busra al-Sham in Daraa Province in southern Syria.

Busra al-Sham, known for its Roman ruins, was captured by rebels two weeks ago as they advanced near the Jordanian border.

An opposition site lists the names and ages of seven victims, including a woman and five children.

The Local Coordinating Committees say 28 people were killed in Daraa Province on Monday, amid numerous regime airstrikes.

Pro-Assad sites make the unconfirmed claim that 70 rebels, including five Free Syrian Army commanders, were killed in the bombing on Busra al-Sham.

Regime Bars Leading Domestic Opposition Activist from Talks in Russia

The Assad regime has banned Louay Hussein, a leading activist in Syria’s domestic opposition, from talks in Russia this week.

Moscow is staging its second round of discussions between a regime delegation, led by Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Jafari, and selected opposition figures.

However, Hussein is still barred from leaving Syria after imprisonment between November and February. A verdict in his trial is expected on April 29.

“Neither I nor my movement [Building the Syrian State] will take part in the meeting in Moscow because the regime refuses to lift my travel ban,” Louay Hussein said.

Hussein was arrested soon after uprisings began in Syria in March 2011. After his release later in the year, he ran the first public opposition conference within Syria at the Semiarmis Hotel in Damascus.

Russia has succeeded in getting five members of another domestic opposition group, the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, to attend.

The first round of talks in January, with about 35 opposition figures involved, produced little more than statements. All main opposition groups from inside and outside Syria declined to attend, and the regime limited its commitment, making cautious comments and refraining from sending any high-level officials.