The Syrian government is using starvation tactics as a weapon of war against civilians, according to Amnesty International.  And so far, it’s working – at least 128 people have died at just one refugee camp as a result.

The Yarmouk camp in a rebel-held area of Damascus is where as many as 20,000 Palestinians and Syrians have been trapped.  It’s been without electricity for almost a year and most of the hospitals have closed after running out of even the most basic medical supplies.  Residents told Amnesty that they have not eaten fruit or vegetables for months.  At least 60-percent of them are suffering from malnutrition.

“The harrowing accounts of families having to resort to eating cats and dogs, and civilians attacked by snipers as they forage for food, have become all too familiar details of the horror story that has materialized in Yarmouk,” says Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East director.

But it’s not just Syria's President Bashar al-Assad using civilians as pawns.  The al Qaeda-linked rebel faction al-Nusra Front has engaged in fighting at the camp, effectively closing it off from United Nations aid convoys that were only just starting to get through thanks to a carefully negotiated security agreement.

“A small number of people had started to be allowed out of Yarmouk under the agreement,” said one resident who did not wat to be identified for fear of reprisal.  “Now al-Nusra has stormed the camp and taken over the checkpoints inside and the agreement is finished.”