Lebanese army fights militants in streets of camp

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, July 26 (Reuters) Lebanese troops fought close-quarter battles in a Palestinian refugee camp today in an offensive aimed at crushing al Qaeda-inspired militants who have held out there for more than two months.

A Lebanese political source said yesterday the army had begun a final assault on the Fatah al-Islam fighters in Nahr al-Bared camp near the northern port city of Tripoli.

The fighting, which began on May 20, is Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war and has killed at least 246 people, including 120 Lebanese soldiers.

Witnesses said the army was using artillery and machineguns to try to quell the militants who were still fighting back.

A military source said the army was gradually occupying the last pockets controlled by the group in the heart of the camp.

''The advance is gradual because this area has lots of buildings close to each other,'' the source said. Buildings had to be cleared of mines and boobytraps after every army advance.

''The fighting has intensified to force the militants to surrender,'' the source added.

More than 85 Fatah al-Islam fighters and 41 civilians have also been killed, while 65 militants have been detained and charged with terrorism -- charges that carry the death penalty.

The army said in a statement late yesterday that advancing troops had found trenches and bunkers inside buildings, along with weapons, ammunition and explosives.

The Lebanese political source said there were only about 100 people left inside the area controlled by the militants -- 60 fighters and 40 women and children from their families.

Fatah al-Islam, which split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year, has Lebanese, Palestinians and other Arabs in its ranks, including some who have fought in Iraq. It says it supports al Qaeda's ideas, but has no direct links with it.

The conflict has further undermined stability in Lebanon, already crippled by a prolonged political crisis and shaken by bombings that have killed six UN peacekeepers and two anti-Syrian lawmakers in the past eight months.

REUTERS PD VV1749