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Fresh gunbattles flare in Lebanese refugee camp

A man attaches posters of the Lebanese flag with the symbol of the Lebanese army to a wall in the village of Bebneen, near the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Saturday. The slogans read ``All for the country. We are with you.'' PHOTO: EPA

Gunbattles broke out yesterday between Lebanese soldiers and diehard Islamist militants entrenched in a refugee camp after a day of heavy fighting in which four soldiers were killed.

As the showdown entered its fourth week, an army officer at the scene said the soldiers died in clashes that were often at close quarters and accompanied by heavy artillery fire from the military.

The army, which has encircled Nahr al-Bared, tried to push into the Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon and overrun positions held by Fatah al-Islam militants, which has snipers posted on rooftops.

"The soldiers were victims of booby-trapped bomb blasts and grenades thrown at them by Fatah al-Islam to slow down their advance," said an army commander.

Apart from the four dead, 40 soldiers were wounded, four of them seriously.

He said troops had met fierce resistance when they tried to storm positions on the northeastern outskirts of the camp.

The soldiers were "fighting from high-rise to high-rise but encountering fierce resistance from the extremists who have booby-trapped the buildings," the commander said.

The known death toll since the fighting broke out on May 20 in Nahr al-Bared and the nearby port city of Tripoli has now risen to 110, including 51 Lebanese army soldiers. The militants have not updated their casualty toll.

Lebanese authorities say the fighting was sparked by raids on Fatah al-Islam hideouts in Tripoli following a bank robbery, after which the militants attacked army posts.

Fatah al-Islam spokesman Shahine Shahine said the shelling on Saturday had been cover for a ground assault but that the attack had been repulsed.

The fighting came as a group of Muslim clerics shuttling between the two sides in a bid to broker a peaceful end to the siege was due to meet army chief Michel Suleiman.

The mediators said they had suffered a setback on Friday when they were only able to see Shahine, not more senior Fatah al-Islam leaders. However, another Fatah al-Islam spokesman, Abu Salim Taha, said the mediation was not welcome as it called for the Islamists to surrender as demanded by the Beirut government.

By longstanding convention the army does not enter Lebanon's 12 refugee camps, leaving security inside to Palestinian militants.
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