Lebanon today said the army killed at least 222 Islamist militants from an al-Qaeda-linked group in a 15-week battle at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
The army finally took control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Sunday after more than three months of fierce battles, including air, sea and land bombardment against the Fatah al-Islam militants.
Defence Minister Elias al-Murr also said 202 militants were captured in the battles while an unknown number were buried in mass graves inside the largely destroyed camp.
Lebanese Defence Minister Elias al-Murr
"This victory uprooted the biggest threat that faced the Lebanese people because Fatah al-Islam was spreading like cancer cells to target each part of the nation," Mr Murr said. "The organisation was aiming to isolate the north from Lebanon to create a terrorist emirate."
At least 42 civilians and 163 soldiers died, bringing the death toll to 427 - Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The army's head of intelligence said Fatah al-Islam was directly linked to al-Qaeda.
The group has said it has no organisational ties to Osama bin Laden's network, however, and that its aims were to spread its hardline interpretation of Islam among Palestinians and to fight Israel.
Most of the militants were foreign Arab fighters and some had fought in Iraq.