BEIRUT - Syrian rebels said on Wednesday they had formed a brigade of sympathetic Palestinians in a Damascus district to fight armed Palestinians aligned with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
About 150,000 Palestinian refugees live in the Syrian capital's Yarmouk camp, a sprawling area of concrete apartment blocks, where some residents support the 19-month-old uprising against Assad and others fight alongside Syrian soldiers.
"We've been arming Palestinians who are willing to fight ... We have formed Liwa al-Asifah (Storm Brigade) which is made up of Palestinian fighters only," a rebel commander from the Suqour al-Golan (Golan Falcons) brigade told Reuters.
"Its task is to be in charge of the Yarmouk camp. We all support it and back it," he added.
