Lebanese army moves against militants in camp

Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armoured carriers today moved against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

The artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising out of the Nahr el-Bared camp outside Tripoli where Fatah Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army.

The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke.

Militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighbourhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.

Two soldiers were slightly wounded, according to officials at a local hospital.

About 50 armoured carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to APTN television crew at the scene.

There was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. But a significant decrease at one point in the shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armoured carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants.

The bombardment intensified several hours later. Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., a leading television station, said troops were attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah Islam in the north-eastern part of the camp in the Samed neighbourhood. But Al-Arabiya television said troops seized militant sniper positions.

A resident from inside the camp said some Fatah Islam positions were overtaken and destroyed in the push.

“What we have decided is to deal with Fatah Islam as a group, a terrorist group taking hostages who are left in the camp,” said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. He told Associated Press Television News in Beirut that the army may be seeking to isolate the militants.

“I think the army is determined this time to go ahead and probably to reduce several pockets of Fatah Islam terrorist,” he said.

Cabinet Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya television that the army came under sniper fire earlier today and decided to respond. “It seems they have destroyed those positions.”