Syrian Warplanes Bomb Palestinian Refugee Camp, Many Killed

Warplanes have bombarded a Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus for the first time since the start of Syria's more than 21-month conflict, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Battles raged Sunday in the Palestinian camp outside Damascus, with Syrian government troops assaulting against rebels on the outskirts of the capital.

Syrian rebels say that at least eight were killed when rockets from Syrian fighter jets struck near the Abdul Qader Husseini mosque inside the refugee camp.

The airstrike on Yarmouk marked the first time the Assad government had used warplanes against the camp, which is densely populated with tens of thousands, both Palestinians and non-Palestinians.

The Yarmouk camp is a home for one zealously pro-Assad Palestinian faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.