Deadly firefights raged in a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon early yesterday, opening a new front for the army as it battles an al-Qaeda-inspired militia in the north of the country.
Residents were plunged into panic by the gunbattles which first flared late on Sunday between the army and Sunni Muslim extremists near Ein al-Helweh, the largest of Lebanon's 12 refugee camps in the southern city of Sidon.
Two soldiers and two militants were killed and 11 wounded, a military spokesman said, while dozens of families fled to safety before calm was restored later yesterday.
The fighting erupted as Lebanese troops continued to lay siege to Fatah al-Islam gunmen in the Nahr al-Bared camp near the northern port of Tripoli in a 16-day standoff that has left more than 100 people dead.
In a bid to contain the latest unrest, the army sent in more armored vehicles around Ein al-Helweh and boosted security in Sidon, where schools were closed, many shops remained shut and traffic was slow.
The fighting pitted troops against gunmen from the Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of Damascus), a little known group mainly made up of Islamist Lebanese extremists.
Palestinian factions, which have sole control over security in Ein al-Helweh as in all other camps across the country, were in contact with the Lebanese authorities to try to end the confrontation, local officials said.
The latest flareup has fuelled concerns the violence could spread to more of the 12 camps which hold more than half of the 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon, mostly in conditions of abject poverty.
In all, 107 people have been killed in 16 days of bloodshed, the deadliest internal feuding since the 1975 to 1990 civil war that has added to tensions in a country already in the grip of an acute political crisis.
"Jund al-Sham opens a new front against the army to support Fatah al-Islam," was the headine in the opposition As-Safir newspaper.
Jund al-Sham, which has no clear hierarchy or leader, is believed to have about 50 militants armed with assault-rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
It is based just outside the northern entrance of Ein al-Helweh, where Islamist groups have gained ground in recent years.
In the north, Lebanese troops including about 1,000 crack commandos were tightening the noose around the militants holed up in Nahr al-Bared, where both sides are vowing to fight to the end.
On Sunday, the military intermittently pounded the camp where Fatah al-Islam is still holding out in the face of superior firepower.
The situation appeared relatively calm on yesterday.
"We are inflicting great damage on the part of the Lebanese army," Fatah al-Islam spokesman Abu Salim Taha told al-Jazeera TV on Sunday.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Saturday had warned Fatah al-Islam to surrender or be wiped out.
The standoff has continued despite efforts by a group of Palestinian clerics to negotiated a solution.
"This is a terrorist gang," Siniora told al-Arabiya television on Saturday. "They must surrender themselves and their arms."
He said the army was carrying out "surgical operations" to eradicate the gunmen, but that if the Islamists give up "they will face a fair trial."
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS