Lebanese troops fought battles with militants at a Palestinian refugee camp today as the death toll from Lebanon's worst fighting since the civil war rose further.
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| Smoke and fire rise from the bombarded Nahr al-Bared refugee camp Photo: Reuters |
The army and Fatah al-Islam militants have battled at the coastal Nahr al-Bared camp for nearly eight weeks.
At least 214 people have been killed, making it the country's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The military, concerned about being sucked into a war of attrition, has stepped up pressure on the camp to force the militants to surrender.
But the well-trained and well-armed mainly Arab fighters, some of whom had fought in Iraq or had trained to go to fight there, have so far rejected all calls to lay down their arms.
Witnesses said the army was bombarding the largely destroyed camp with artillery and tank fire. Militants were responding with sniper and rocket fire.
A 1969 Arab agreement banned Lebanese security forces from entering Palestinian camps. The agreement was annulled by the Lebanese parliament in the mid-1980s, but the accord effectively stayed in place.
At least 94 soldiers, 75 militants and 44 civilians have been killed in fighting with Islamist militants in the camp and other areas since May 20th.