Loud Artillery and machine-gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp yesterday as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah Islamist militants holed up inside the camp in the country's north.
The fighting -- which resumed for a third straight day after a brief nighttime lull -- reflected the government's determination to pursue the Islamic militants who staged attacks on Lebanese troops on Sunday and Monday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians.
The fighting erupted at dawn at Nahr al-Bared camp near the northern port of Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city. The army is attacking Fatah al-Islam, a small al-Qaeda-inspired Sunni group that made its base in the camp last year.
It has little Lebanese or Palestinian support, but the bombardment of the crowded camp has begun to provoke anger among refugees elsewhere in Lebanon.
Residents of Nahr al-Bared appealed for fighting to stop, saying there were dead and wounded lying on the streets.
"We have seen many wars, but never seen bombardment in this way. Entire areas have been destroyed," Jamal Laila, 40, told reporters by telephone.
"Children have no milk, water or bread. For the sake of 10, 20 or 30 individuals an entire camp is being massacred," he said, weeping over the phone.
Speaking from the same number, Aisha Laila, 40, said her five-month-old child had no milk and her three other children were crouched in a corner while bombs hit nearby houses.
"Perhaps those Fatah al-Islam are here. But we don't know them and don't know where they are. Why are we being bombarded?" she asked.
A UN aid convoy waited on the outskirts of the camp, but could not enter while the violence continued.
At least 22 militants, 32 soldiers and 27 civilians have been killed since the army and Fatah al-Islam began fighting on Sunday, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. Fifty-five soldiers have also been wounded.
The US, which backs the Beirut government, said Lebanon was justified in attacking the militants.
"Extremists that are trying to topple that young democracy need to be reined in," US President George W. Bush said.
He stopped short of holding Damascus directly responsible, while saying that Syria was still involved in Lebanon.
In Beirut, a bomb exploded in a shopping area in a mainly Sunni Muslim area on Monday night, wounding at least seven people. It appeared to mirror a blast on Sunday that killed a woman and wounded 10 people in a mainly Christian district.
A faxed statement in the name of Fatah al-Islam claimed responsibility for the blasts and threatened more. But Abu Salim, a spokesman for the group, denied it was involved.
At the Palestinian refugee camp of Beddawi, 9km from Nahr al-Bared, crowds gathered demanding a ceasefire and shouting slogans against the Lebanese army and government.
Hazma Qassem, a mosque imam in Beddawi, said people had at first opposed the militants who had attacked Lebanese troops.
"But we are now against the army after the scorched-earth policies it has been using and the massacres against women and children," he said. "The battle will be open on all the Lebanese lands if there is not an immediate ceasefire."
In Ain al-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon, Islamist militants blocked roads with tires and several shops closed. "If the fighting [in the north] doesn't stop, the war will be with all Islam, not just Fatah al-Islam," one militant said.
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