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“HELLO, I AM STILL ALIVE!” – VOICES FROM YARMOUK
YARMOUK RESIDENTS DESCRIBE THEIR EXPERIENCES TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
The neighbourhood of Yarmouk in southern Damascus suffered another tragedy on 1 April when fighters of the socalled Islamic State (IS) invaded and took control of most of the area. Yarmouk had already been besieged by government forces for two years, causing desperate shortages of food and medical supplies.
Some 18,000 Palestinian and Syrian civilians endured intensive clashes, mostly between IS and Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, a Palestinian armed group, as well as the rockets, artillery shells and barrel bombs of the Syrian government’s armed forces.
As fighting intensified, the trickle of desperately needed humanitarian aid dried up and residents continued to starve.