Free Republic

Lebanese security officials said a bomb has exploded on a busy street in the northern city of Tripoli, killing at least three people and wounding many. The officials said the target was a military bus in the central Nour Square. They said Wednesday's explosion happened as the streets were filled with people heading to work, causing many injuries. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for not being authorized to speak to the media. Tripoli has witnessed sectarian clashes in the past weeks that killed and wounded dozens of people. The city is also close to the Palestinian refugee camp...

BEIRUT — Lebanese troops shot and killed a suicide bomber near Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp Saturday, a senior military official said. The official said the Palestinian man wearing an explosive belt approached an army checkpoint just outside the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon. Soldiers manning the army checkpoint saw the young man climb out of a car and throw a hand grenade which failed to explode, the official said. The soldiers warned the man not to move, but he ignored the orders and moved quickly toward them with his hands on...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A suspected senior commander of the Fatah Islam militant group was captured by Palestinian refugees and turned over to the Lebanese military Monday after he spent weeks in hiding, an official said. Nasser Ismail was among a number of militant leaders who fled the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared before Lebanese troops overran it earlier this month, ending a fierce three-month battle with Fatah Islam fighters barricaded inside. Ismail appeared to be suffering from exhaustion from weeks of hiding in nearby forests when he was overpowered by Palestinian refugees as he tried to sneak into the...

Beirut - Shaker Youssef Al-Absi , the fugitive leader of the Fatah al-Islam militants was killed today as he was trying to flee the Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. This information was confirmed by a hospital in Tripoli and by Lebanese army sources. According to army sources, Al-Absi was killed in the morning and his body was found near the eastern section of the camp. The army brought in some Fatah al Islam detainees to view the body and they all confirmed that it was that of Al- Absi. Later in the day, the army performed...

Nahr El Bared now fell to the Lebanese Army

MOHAMMARA, Lebanon - The last militant stronghold of a Palestinian refugee camp devastated by more than three months of fighting between Islamic fighters and Lebanese soldiers fell to the army on Sunday, security officials said. Hours after the army killed 32 militants and captured at least 15 others as they tried to break out of the Nahr el-Bared camp, only occasional gunfire could be heard inside. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the last stronghold of Fatah Islam militants fell later in the day to the army, which captured five wounded militants in their hideout. Celebratory gunfire erupted...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese army helicopters stepped up raids Friday on al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in the country's north after five soldiers were killed, a senior military official said. A soldier died overnight Thursday and four other soldiers died in renewed fighting with Fatah Islam gunmen in the past two days in the besieged Nahr el-Bared camp, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to army regulations. The deaths raised to 153 the number of soldiers killed since fighting began May 20, he said. "The army is making a noticeable progress in its...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanon's army stepped up its assault on Islamic militants hiding inside a Palestinian refugee settlement on Saturday, launching artillery barrages and sending in armored carriers and special forces. Witnesses in the Nahr el-Bared camp reported some of the heaviest army shelling since June 1, when the Lebanese army — using tanks and artillery — launched an offensive to drive out the Fatah Islam militants. Security officials said five soldiers were killed Saturday and 15 wounded, some seriously. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to give official statements. Local and Arab television...

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) —...