Posted on 05/21/2007 7:04:16 AM PDT by SJackson
(IsraelNN.com) In the wake of clashes with a Syrian-affiliated terrorist organization operating in Lebanon, Fatah Al-Islam, the Lebanese government ordered services cut to the northern town the terrorists are using as their base of operations. The Lebanese army also shelled the town, which is designated by Lebanon as a "Palestinian refugee camp."
Residents of the camp told reporters that many homes have been demolished and bodies were strewn in the streets.
By Monday morning, the ongoing clashes between Fatah Al-Islam and the Lebanese military led to the deaths of at least 22 soldiers, 25 Islamist terrorists and uncounted numbers of non-combatants in Nahr Al-Bard and Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, as well as in Beirut. Some estimates put the total death toll at 65.
The clashes between Lebanese security forces and the Fatah Al-Islam terrorists erupted in Tripoli, when soldiers raided a terrorist safe-house in pursuit of bank robbers on Sunday. "We traced them to an apartment in Tripoli, which turned out to be an office for Fatah Al-Islam," Interior Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi said. The government troops were met by armed resistance, which quickly led to fierce clashes in Tripoli and in the Fatah Al-Islam home base of Nahr Al-Bard.
As an early tactic in their war against the Islamist group, the Lebanese authorities cut off electricity, water and communications in the Nahr Al-Bard camp. In response to a successful Fatah Al-Islam assault on nearby military outposts on Sunday, army tanks shelled the camp intermittently throughout the day. Army sources claimed the shells were aimed at Fatah Al-Islam headquarters, while residents of the camp told reporters that many homes in the camp have been randomly demolished and bodies were strewn in the streets. The shelling continued on Monday.
Within hours of the worst of Sunday's clashes, a car bomb exploded outside a shopping mall in a central-eastern Beirut neighborhood. One woman was killed and dozens were injured when a bomb placed under a car in the mall parking lot was detonated by unknown terrorists. The neighborhood is known to be majority Christian.
The Lebanese cabinet is meeting Monday to decide whether or not to send troops into Nahr Al-Bard.
Reactions Among Lebanese and in the Palestinian Authority Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said the fighting was a "dangerous attempt at harming Lebanese security."
Lebanese civilians have expressed to various media outlets their strong support for their military's assault against the Islamists in the Nahr Al-Bard camp. Pictures in several on-line newspapers show Lebanese citizens in the streets cheering on soldiers making their way through the streets of Tripoli.
Elias Bejjani, chairman of a Lebanese expatriate coalition in Canada, the Lebanese -Canadian Coordinating Council (LCCC), issued a press release calling for the Lebanese military "to deal decisively and with military means with the situation in the Nahr El-Bared Camp once and for all, because not doing so will weaken the army and give the Lebanese opposition and those behind them in the Syrian regime a new impetus to repeat what happened several times in the past."
The LCCC further claimed, "The rulers in Damascus had brought in its mercenary fighters several months ago to the Palestinian Camps in Lebanon with the objective of stirring strife, creating an anarchy situation, obstructing the creation of the International Tribunal [on the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri -ed.] and, most importantly, prevent the rise of a strong self-reliant Lebanese State and institutions that would spread its control over every inch of Lebanese soil and disarm the militias and impose the rule of law."
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah organization denied any connection with Fatah Al-Islam and has condemned the current clashes in Lebanon. However, Fatah Al-Islam is an offshoot of factions that split with Yasser Arafat's Fatah in the 1980s. Lebanese security officials have linked Fatah Al-Islam variously to Al-Qaeda and to Syrian intelligence.
The countries may change, the tactics remain the same.
Within hours of the worst of Sunday's clashes, a car bomb exploded outside a shopping mall in a central-eastern Beirut neighborhood. One woman was killed and dozens were injured when a bomb placed under a car in the mall parking lot was detonated by unknown terrorists. The neighborhood is known to be majority Christian.
Lebanese government showing its stones. ‘Bout damn time.
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The enemy of my enemy............
All life in Europe would've stopped had it been Israel's attack. This would've been the #1 news for months to come. Where is Fisk now to report on the "suffering of the Palestinians?"
It's good to see you, SJackson. Thank you for the post.
It would appear that nobody who actually lives with the Palestinians seems to like them all that much. Only those Euro/American, left-wing elites seem to find them sympathetic from a distance. Hmmm, go figure.
This is how Arabs deal with opposition. Assads pop killed up to 30,000 at Hama by shelling the city. Then had to be persuaded to tear the place down, he wanted it left as a warning. Jordan killed thousands when they expelled the PLO.
But there are no Al-Qaeda in Iraq...
If Israel, cut power and water before an attack it would be genocide.
In retrospect I understand why Assad decimated Hama in 1983. That city was ruled by the Muslim brotherhood and was their base of operations. They tried to assassinate Hafez Assad.
You know Wafa Sultan? Her professor was murdered in front of her in 1979 by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which btw is Sunni and Assad is Alewite which is much closer to Shiite. This murder was the turning point for Wafa Sultan.
Too damned bad that the feminized wimps (aka Olmert in Tel Aviv) can’t manage to do what Netanyahu proposed, simply turn off water and electricity then allow the Imams and Muzzies to “negotiate for Peace.”
I understand the why, just pointing out the difference in tactics and media coverage. The US and Israel do all they can to avoid civilian casualties. Arabs, understanding that terrorists mix in with the civilian population, simiply surround the place, turn off the utilities, and use artillery. And no one says a thing, that's what Arabs do after all.
Some media coverage of Israel's operations in the Tripoli area last year.
If I recall correctly, the charge against Sharon which caused him to resign was essentially that he didn’t understand Arab barbarism. Muslims attacked Shatilla a couple years later killing 600 or 700, wounding in the thousands, no one said a word.
Unfortunately, you have to doubt that the Leb army, notoriously weak as it is, can defeat the enemy without outside help.
On that, sadly, I agree. The Lebanese have always done much better at being merchants than a fighting force. Considering that they’re fighting Al Qaeda, though, I think this qualifies for assistance from the US as part of the (whispered) GWOT.
Their families, clans, tribes are their support structure. So Assad and other Muslim Arabs killed their families, clans, tribes
Saddam had Iraqis so well trained, so well terrorized, that targeted torture and barbarism worked very well. A father is rebellious, just abduct his daughter, rape her, cut her into pieces and deliver the pieces to their door in burlap sack along with video of the rape
I know nothing about that massacre. Do you have a URL?
I would say Sharon and his officers knew what was going on. Days before the top Christian leaders were killed by a huge bomb. This was payback that the Phalange was eager to deliver. The Sabra-Shatila numbers are probably wildly inflated
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