DHAKA: Besieged since June, nearly 20,000 people in Damascus’ Yarmuk Palestinian camp are so desperate for food that many eat stray animals, and some women have resorted to prostitution, according to residents reached via the Internet.

‘Many here have slaughtered and eaten cats and dogs, and even a donkey,’ said Yarmuk resident Ali, who was a university student when Syria’s revolt erupted in 2011.

‘One man who killed a dog couldn’t find any meat to eat on its body, because even the dogs are starving,’ he said, reports The Straits Times.

‘What was unimaginable a few months ago is normal now.’

Once a refugee camp, Yarmuk evolved generations ago into a bustling commercial and residential district, where both Syrians and Palestinians resided.

BDST: 1450 HRS, JAN 29, 2014