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October 21, 2013

Syria: Clerics Permit Eating of Dogs, Cats amid Starvation in Rebel-Held Areas 
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In a lesser-told side of Syria's civil war, Muslim clerics have
reportedly issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, allowing people to eat
dogs, cats and donkeys as residents of rebel-held South Damascus face
starvation conditions. The Financial Times reports areas, including
parts of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, have faced an almost
total blockade of supplies since the summer, leaving some residents to
subsist on leaves, animal feed and the contents of garbage bins. Signs
on pro-government checkpoints read "hunger or kneel." The area is just a
short drive from where United Nations weapons inspectors are staying as
they carry out an international mandate to destroy Syria's chemical
arsenal.

 

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