LEBANON: Two Lebanese soldiers die in battle with Islamists

Record ID: 345336

  • Title: LEBANON: Two Lebanese soldiers die in battle with Islamists
  • Date: 23rd August 2007
  • Summary: (BN10) NAHR AL-BARED CAMP, LEBANON (AUGUST 23, 2007) (REUTERS) HELICOPTER FLYING OVER CAMP DROPS BOMB /AUDIO OF BLAST / SMOKE RISING FROM CAMP VARIOUS OF SHELLING, SMOKE RISING FROM CAMP LEBANESE ARMY VEHICLES DRIVING SMOKE RISING FROM THE CAMP LEBANESE ARMY TANK DRIVING INSIDE CAMP SMOKE RISING FROM CAMP
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Reuters ID: LVA1RZ0XAMOER8YOHQJLQXFJD2YJ
  • Story Text: Helicopters bombed militant Islamist positions at least four times at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp on Thursday (August 23).
    The camp, in north Lebanon, has been largely reduced to rubble after battling between militants and the army has lasted for more than three months.
    Two Lebanese soldiers died of wounds sustained on Wednesday at the refugee camp where the army is trying to crush the al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam group, a security source said on Thursday.
    The army has now lost 143 soldiers in the fighting, Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
    At least 100 militants and 42 civilians have also been killed since the violence erupted on May 20.
    Fatah al-Islam had asked mediators earlier this week to seek a ceasefire to allow the evacuation of family members holed-up with them inside the largely destroyed camp.
    The army agreed to the request on Tuesday (August 21) but the Palestinian Clerics' Association, which is acting as an intermediary, said communication problems had complicated efforts to organise the evacuation.
    The association's Sheikh Mohammed al-Haj said he had been unable to reach the militants since Tuesday on the telephone line he had previously used to talk to their spokesman.
    Most of the camp's 40,000 residents fled to a nearby Palestinian refugee camp in the early days of the battle.
    The army demands the unconditional surrender of the militants, who it says triggered the conflict by attacking military posts.
    Fatah al-Islam split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year. It says it shares al Qaeda's ideology but has no organisational ties to Osama bin Laden's network.
    The prosecutor-general this week charged 107 detainees with membership of the group. Most were Lebanese and Palestinians but they also included Saudis, Syrians, a Tunisian and an Algerian.
    Another 119 are wanted on the same charges, including 38 Saudis and 11 Syrians.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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