Lebanese troops pounded Islamist militiamen in a Palestinian refugee camp yesterday, the second day of the bloodiest internal fighting since the civil war that has now killed 55 people and raised deep concerns about Lebanon's fragile security.
Nine Palestinian civilians were killed in the shelling of the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, where soldiers battled militants from the shadowy Fatah al-Islam group, a camp medic said.
Plumes of thick black smoke rose from the camp, which has been turned into a war zone by ferocious gunbattles yesterday between soldiers and Fatah al-Islam, a group accused of links to al-Qaeda and Syrian intelligence services.
Lebanese leaders vowed they would take "all necessary measures" to restore order after the fighting that left 46 people dead on Sunday alone, while the international community appealed for an end to the violence.
As warships patrolled nearby coastal waters, troops were locked in heavy exchanges of artillery and machinegun fire with militants in Nahr al-Bared, where buildings have been burnt or destroyed.
Officials are fearful for the plight of refugees.
"We are deeply concerned about the developing humanitarian crisis, particularly the danger to civilian lives," UN Palestinian refugee agency director Richard Cook said.
Doctors have describing seeing bodies strewn on the streets of the Nahr al-Bared, which like all other refugee camps in Lebanon remain outside the control of the government and in the hands of Palestinian factions.
"The electricity has been cut, there's not much water and the camp's bakeries are shut," said Hajj Rifaat, an official from the mainstream group Fatah, which denies any links with Fatah al-Islam.
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