Posted on 05/31/2007 10:49:31 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Heavy fighting resumed Friday between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
Tanks could be seen moving down the streets outside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp as heavy shelling could be heard in the background, according to an AP Television News crew at the scene.
Plumes of smoke rose out of the camp where Fatah Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army.
This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — A Lebanese soldier was killed by sniper fire Thursday from inside a Palestinian refugee camp where the military and Islamic militants have been engaged in a standoff for nearly two weeks, security officials said.
The death raises to 32 the number of Lebanese soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants broke out at the Nahr el-Bared camp on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants have also been killed.
Hundreds of soldiers backed by artillery and tanks have been deployed around the camp to prevent the militants from fleeing. The government has vowed to crush the militants, although an all-out assault on the camp would risk sparking violence elsewhere in the country.
Thousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more remain inside. Fatah Islam claims to have more than 500 fighters in the camp, armed with automatic weapons, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
Sporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting at the beginning of the siege.
The security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements to the media, said the soldier killed Thursday was hit by militants' sniper fire from inside the camp. They said three soldiers were wounded during overnight fighting.
Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman vowed to track down the militants responsible for the deaths of Lebanese soldiers.
"We are determined to arrest the killers who attacked the army and Lebanese civilians and innocent Palestinians and bring them to justice," Suleiman said during a tour of the military positions around Nahr el-Bared in the northern city of Tripoli.
About 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in refugee camps across the country, many of which are rife with armed groups.
At the Ein el-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon, a gunbattle erupted late Thursday between Islamic militants of the Jund al-Sham group and the mainstream Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. At least two explosions were heard amid the crackle of gunfire, but there was no immediate word of any casualties.
Jund al-Sham, which is Arabic for Soldiers of Historic Syria, has claimed responsibility or been blamed for a number of bombings and gunbattles, mainly in Lebanon and Syria. Syrian officials have portrayed it as the most active militant group in their country.
Meanwhile, the political leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, called for a peaceful solution to the standoff between the army and militants at Nahr el-Bared.
"We are against Palestinian interference in Lebanese affairs and against targeting any Lebanese soldier. But we also don't accept the bombardment of the camp and don't accept our people to be punished in Nahr el-Bared or in other places," he told reporters in Syria. "We call for a peaceful solution to the Nahr el-Bared problem to avoid more casualties."
Lebanese soldiers keep watch during a patrol on the outskirts of the northern Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, 31 May 2007. A Lebanese soldier and at least eight Fatah al-Islam extremists have been killed in a surge of fighting at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, the army said.(AFP/Joseph Barrak)
Heavy fighting accompanied with troop movements right now, Saturday morning.
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