DAMASCUS, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Unrest-torn Syria witnessed fierce battles in the Yarmouk refugee camp in south Damascus on Tuesday as the international community pressed ahead with its efforts to end the country's violence.
Anwar Raja, spokesman of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian General Command (PFLP-GC), confirmed on Tuesday that armed militia stormed the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees and seized its control.
He told Xinhua that the armed militia, comprising the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, entered the camp like "Berber Tatars and Mongols" and had carried out looting and burglaries in homes and shops.
He denied the government army's presence around the camp despite Western media reports saying army tanks were closing in on the camp.
Raja said the PFLP-GC's local committees were fighting assailants in the camp, which is the largest refugee camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria.
Though nominally a Palestinian camp, the area is inhabited by only 150,000 of the country's 500,000 Palestinian refugees, plus some 500,000 Syrians.
A day earlier, media reports said Syria's rebel opposition took full control of the Palestinian refugee camp after days of fighting between rebels backed by some Palestinians and Palestinian fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, international efforts to end the Syrian crisis continued.
UN-Arab League (AL) special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi held talks Tuesday with AL Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr on the latest developments in Syria.
Brahimi started his talks at the AL headquarters in Cairo where he briefed Arabi on the results of his recent contacts with the parties of the Syrian crisis, his recent talks with Russian and American officials in Geneva, as well as his meetings with a number of European prime ministers.
Later he held a meeting with Amr to discuss the necessary efforts to enhance humanitarian aid for the Syrian people and to end the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
In a related development, German troops arrived in the southeastern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras on Tuesday for the deployment of Patriot systems against possible threats from neighboring Syria, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.
A total of six Patriot missile batteries will be sent to Turkey from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. All of them will be under NATO's command and are scheduled to be operational by the end of January.
Related:
UN-AL envoy to Syria meets senior officials in Cairo
CAIRO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN-Arab League (AL) special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi held talks Tuesday with AL Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr on the latest developments in Syria.
Brahimi started his talks at the AL headquarters in Cairo where he briefed Arabi on the results of his recent contacts with the parties of the Syrian crisis, his recent talks with Russian and American officials in Geneva, as well as his meetings with a number of European prime ministers. Full story
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