Militants from the Daesh jihadist group seized control of most of the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in south Damascus on Wednesday, a local Palestinian official told AFP.
"Fighters from IS launched an assault this morning on Yarmuk and they took over the majority of the camp," said Anwar Abdel Hadi, director of political affairs for the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Damascus.
The camp was once a thriving neighbourhood home to 150,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrians but has been caught up in the country's fighting and besieged by regime forces for more than a year.
Only about 18,000 residents are estimated to remain in the camp after many fled the fighting.