Two Lebanese soldiers die in attack by militia linked to al-Qaida

ISLAMIST gunmen killed two Lebanese soldiers at a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon yesterday, in the first fatal spillover of fighting between the army and al-Qaida-inspired fighters in the north.

Two militants of the Jund al-Sham group were also killed in the gun battle on the edge of the big Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern port city of Sidon, security and military sources said.

Three soldiers and two civilians were hurt in intermittent clashes, which began on Sunday night and calmed yesterday.