LEBANON: Lebanese troops backed by artillery, tanks and gunships tightened their grip on al Qaeda-inspired militants at the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp

Record ID: 375043

  • Title: LEBANON: Lebanese troops backed by artillery, tanks and gunships tightened their grip on al Qaeda-inspired militants at the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp
  • Date: 3rd June 2007
  • Summary: (W3) NAHR AL-BARED, LEBANON (JUNE 3, 2007) (REUTERS) WIDE OF THE NAHR AL-BARED CAMP WITH AUDIO OF GUNFIRE, SMOKE RISING OVER BUILDINGS AUDIO OF EXPLOSION, SMOKE RISING
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVACWI2WQ8MUPOCNV4QRQXVT7O9Y
  • Story Text: Lebanese troops, backed by artillery, tanks and gunships, have tightened their grip on al Qaeda-inspired militants at a Palestinian refugee camp.

    Lebanese troops unleashed artillery and tank barrages as al Qaeda-inspired militants dug-in at a Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday (June 3), the third day of a military assault to crush the gunmen.
    The troops had seized and destroyed several positions of the Fatah al-Islam group at the entrances of Nahr al-Bared and were tightening their grip on them, security sources said.
    But the militants, who have vowed to fight to the death, were putting up stiff resistance despite three days of near constant pounding from army tanks, artillery and gunships.
    Explosions rocked the camp as the crackle of machinegun fire echoed. Plumes of smoke rose from the camp as shelling set buildings on fire.
    The fighting, which erupted on May 20, is Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. The government says militants triggered the siege by attacking army positions around the camp and Lebanon's second largest city, Tripoli.
    The death toll in the two-week-old conflict stood at 110, of whom 44 are soldiers, and at least 36 are militants and 20 are civilians.
    A funeral for 20-year-old Fadi al-Dinnawi, a Lebanese soldier killed in the fighting near the Nahr al-Bared camp was held in Tripoli on Sunday (June 3).
    The shelling of Nahr al-Bared devastated large parts of the camp, levelling buildings used by the gunmen to fire at troops but also destroying many civilian homes.
    Most of Nahr al-Bared's nearly 40,000 population has fled to other refugee camps over the past two weeks due to increasingly desperate humanitarian conditions.
    The efforts of relief agencies to provide aid for the thousands of displaced people are hampered by fighting, transportation and logistical problems.
    While the army has not entered the Nahr al-Bared camp's official boundaries, it has seized on the militants' positions on its outskirts, blocking the roads and confining militants to about a third of the camp.
    A 1969 Arab agreement prevents the army from entering Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps, home to 400,000 refugees.

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