6 gunmen killed in north Lebanese clash with army

Qalamoun (Lebanon), Jun 28: Lebanese troops killed six Islamist militants during a clash in the northern town of Qalamoun early today, security sources said.

They said at least two of the militants were Lebanese and three were believed to be Saudi. Two Lebanese soldiers were slightly wounded, they added.

Witnesses said the army had launched a raid early today in Qalamoun, which is on the Mediterranean coast about 5 km south of the city of Tripoli.

A firefight ensued involving assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades and army helicopters strafed machinegun fire in nearby woods. The army blocked off the area and the fighting appeared to ease later.

The identities of the gunmen were not immediately clear. A similar clash erupted last week in Tripoli after Lebanese troops stormed a militant hideout killing seven, mostly foreigners.

A more significant clash erupted on May 20 in Tripoli which has sparked ferocious fighting at the nearby Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp between the army and al Qaeda-inspired militants of Fatah al-Islam.

Fighting between militants and the Lebanese army since then has killed at least 200 people -- 84 soldiers, 76 militants and 40 civilians -- making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

In Nahr al-Bared, sporadic clashes flared between the army and Fatah al-Islam today. Artillery shells pounded the camp intermittently, witnesses said.

Fatah al-Islam split from a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction last year with some 200 fighters. Since then it has drawn scores of Arab jihadis, including Iraq war veterans, to its Nahr al-Bared base. The group's leaders deny any direct links to al Qaeda, but say they sympathise with Osama bin Laden's network.

REUTERS

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