Two Lebanese soldiers killed in camp battle

BEIRUT, Aug 19 (Reuters) Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in fighting with Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, a military source said today.

Both were shot yesterday at the Nahr al-Bared camp, taking to 138 the number of soldiers killed in three months of fighting between the army and militants, the source said.

One of the soldiers was killed yesterday. The second died of his wounds on Sunday.

At least 100 militants of the al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam group have also been killed along with 41 civilians in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Much of the Nahr al-Bared camp has been destroyed in the fighting. The military kept up an aerial bombardment today, dropping bombs on the camp from a helicopter, witnesses said.

Most of Nahr al-Bared's 40,000 residents fled in the early days of the battle to the nearby Beddawi camp.

The army accuses the militants of triggering the conflict by attacking army positions on May 20. Fatah al-Islam, which shares al Qaeda's ideology, has refused to give in to army demands for an unconditional surrender.

Fatah al-Islam says it has no organisational ties to al Qaeda.

The conflict has added to instability in Lebanon, where six UN peacekeepers and two anti-Syrian lawmakers have also been killed in attacks in the past eight months. A political crisis has paralysed government in Lebanon since November.

REUTERS RKM PM1807