Lebanese army, air force pound militant positions in northern refugee camp
By News Agencies
The Lebanese army and air force pounded Fatah al-Islam positions in an embattled northern refugee camp on Saturday, in the second day of a renewed military offensive against the Al-Qaida inspired militants.
In the air force's first involvement in nearly two weeks of fighting, a helicopter on Saturday fired missiles and strafed suspected positions of Islamic militants on the edge of a Palestinian refugee camp with machine gun fire.
The helicopter, a French-made Gazelle, directed machine gun fire at areas near the Mediterranean coastline. Two air-to-surface missiles were also fired during three runs over the area.
It was not clear what the aircraft was firing at, but it was possibly blocking an escape route by sea for the militants.
Security sources said two Lebanese soldiers were killed overnight in a rocket propelled grenade attack on their armored vehicle by the Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon.
Four more soldiers were killed and 10 wounded Saturday, bringing the army's casualties to six dead and 20 wounded since the Friday's start of the offensive.
Inside the Nahr al-Bared camp, a spokesman for the militants said they would neither surrender nor give up their weapons.
"There is no way we will give up our weapons because it is our pride. We cannot even contemplate surrendering," Abu Salim Taha, Fatah al-Islam's spokesman, told Reuters by telephone. He denied the loss of key positions.
The army has been battling the Fatah al-Islam militants since May 20 in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese government says Fatah al-Islam triggered the fighting when it attacked army positions around the camp and Lebanon's second largest city, Tripoli.
19 people, including at least three Lebanese soldiers, were killed inside the camp on Friday, security sources said, bringing the total death toll to at least 105, 40 of whom are soldiers.
The sources said 18 other soldiers were wounded and could not say whether those who died inside Nahr al-Bared were Fatah al-Islam militants or civilians.
Meanwhile, under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved toward the refugee camp Friday in pursuit of the militants holed up inside.
The artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising out of the Nahr al-Bared camp where Fatah al-Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army.
The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke. The militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.
About 50 armored personnel carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to APTN television crew at the scene.
There was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. But a significant decrease in shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants.
Television footage showed the movement of T-55 Russian-made tanks, French-made Panhard tanks, M-113 U.S.-built armored personnel carriers and jeeps with 106mm rifles mounted on them. Sandbags were packed on some of the vehicles.
Military officials would not comment on the troop movements and journalists were pushed back further from the camp. But a statement bythe army command said troops came under fire from the militants and the army was responding with accurate and decisive fire to deter them. The statement said the army was at the same time avoiding civilian casualties.
The concentrated bombardment began in the morning, with heavy barrages targeting all parts of the camp.
Sporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting.
A Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday. The death Thursday raised to 32 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed.
The army has ringed the Nahr al-Bared camp with hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, poised to storm the camp and prevent militants from fleeing. The government has vowed to crush the militants, who have said they will fight till the end.
Thousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more are still inside, along with the Fatah Islam fighters.
On Thursday, army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman toured the military positions around the Nahr al-Bared camp in the northern city of Tripoli, vowing to track down the militants responsible for killing the soldiers.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora says militants "have no choice but to surrender," vows camp will be rebuilt
said there were still about 250 members of Fatah Islam - which he said was involved with intelligence agencies in Syria - inside the camp. Saniora promised Palestinians who fled Nahr el-Bared that they will be able to return and that the camp will be rebuilt.
The militants have no choice but to surrender, Saniora told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television, adding that the government would assure this group justice and a fair trial.
Palestinians worried battles spread to other camps
Palestinian leaders are striving to ensure that fighting between army troops and Islamist militants in north Lebanon does not ignite violence at refugee camps elsewhere.
Palestinian factions at the sprawling Ain al-Hilweh camp in south Lebanon said they were determined to prevent any spillover from nearly two weeks of clashes pitting the Lebanese army against al Qaida-inspired fighters at Nahr al-Bared camp.
The Fatah al-Islam group - which the Lebanese government says has many Arab foreigners in its ranks - has little support among Palestinians, but army bombardment of Nahr al-Bared over the past 13 days has stirred fear and resentment in other camps.
"Palestinian forces have all decided that the battles will not be transferred to Ain al-Hilweh and to tighten security in the camps," said Muneer al-Maqdah, a Fatah military commander.
Ain al-Hilweh, home to about 70,000 refugees, is the biggest of Lebanon's 12 camps. They house 400,000 Palestinians whose families fled the conflict over Israel's creation in 1948
Dilapidated and squalid, the unruly settlements have few health and social services. Refugees are banned from working in more than 70 professions in Lebanon, so unemployment is high.
A 1969 Arab agreement barred Lebanese security forces from the camps, which were to be policed by Palestine Liberation Organisation guerrillas then setting up bases in Lebanon.
Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon forced out most of the guerrillas and heavy weaponry, leaving the camps in the hands of competing factions which are still allowed to keep their guns.
Beyond the reach of the Lebanese authorities, the camps also provide sanctuary for Islamist militants and wanted criminals.
The army has so far held back from storming Nahr al-Bared - a risky act that would breach the 1969 Cairo agreement and could cause heavy civilian casualties. Such an assault might also spur militants in other camps to retaliate against the army.
Such groups are known to have a presence in Ain al-Hilweh, near the southern port of Sidon, where they are distrusted both by Fatah, the biggest faction, and its Islamist Hamas rival
"There are elements that are not under any umbrella, neither Islamist nor nationalist. If things get worse (in Nahr al-Bared) they might attack the army," said Abu Ahmed Fadel Taha, Hamas's representative in Sidon. "They can throw a grenade or a bomb."
He said mainstream factions had so far been able to keep a lid on rogue militants, but they remained worried about them.
Fatah leaders, however, insisted such groups were small, were under control and posed no threat to camp security.
Periodic skirmishes have shaken Ain al-Hilweh in recent months, mainly between Fatah and a small, Sunni Muslim militant group called Jund al-Sham. Most have been swiftly contained.
Security sources say Jund al-Sham has only a few dozen combatants, some of whom have fought in Iraq.
Usbat al-Ansar, a bigger Islamist militant group based in Ain al-Hilweh, says it is helping to keep Jund al-Sham under control in return for protecting the group from its rivals.
"They realise their numbers are very small, their weaponry is very little. If Usbat al-Ansar lifts its cover off them, they wouldn't exist," said Usbat al-Ansar spokesman Abu Sharif.
The Nahr al-Bared fighting has yet to spread elsewhere, but Ain al-Hilweh residents said they felt the tension.
"Of course we're scared that something will happen here because all the camps are threatened. The army could decide to battle militants here," said Sawsan Majzoub, 28.
Lebanese army, air force pound militant positions in northern refugee camp
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