Shells hit Palestinian refugee camp in Syria

Shelling of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital killed at least 15 civilians, including two children, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

The watchdog said the mortar shells slammed into the camp, on the southern outskirts of Damascus, on Thursday night, but could not determine the origin of the shelling.

Pro-opposition Observatory director Rami Abdelrahman, not his real name, said the shelling occurred as clashes flared between government troops and opposition fighters in the nearby Damascus neighborhood of Tadamun.

"We demand an international investigation. We do not know the origin of the shelling," Abdelrahman told AFP in Beirut on the telephone.

Witnesses in the camp told Reuters by telephone that the mortars hit a busy street as people were preparing a Ramadan meal to break their fasting.

"I saw it all, I was going to my house when the first round hit the street, people ran to check the damage when the second one hit the same area," a resident said.

"Many people were killed immediately," she said.

Doctors at three nearby hospitals said at least 20 people were killed and 65 wounded.

Yarmouk camp is the largest Palestinian refugee community and is home to more than 100,000 people.

(AFP, Reuters, Al-Akhbar)