Lebanon army takes control of camp after battle
NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Sept 2 (Reuters) Lebanese troops today seized control of a Palestinian refugee camp where they had been battling militants for more than three months, killing at least 31 fleeing fighters, security sources said.
Thirty-four more fighters from the Fatah al-Islam group were captured, 23 inside the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon.
Most were wounded, a security source said.
''The battle is over. The Lebanese army has seized the last positions of Fatah al-Islam in the camp,'' a senior security source told Reuters.
''Most of the terrorists were killed today. The others have been captured. A few might have escaped but the army is hunting them down,'' the source added.
The fate of Shaker al-Abssi, the group's Palestinian leader, was unclear.
The fighting has been Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war, killing more than 300 people.
Five soldiers were killed today, raising the army death toll to 157. At least 131 militants and 42 civilians have been killed.
The army had initially estimated that only 35 active fighters remained in the camp before today, along with the wounded. An army statement said the militants had tried to escape from the camp in the early hours of the morning.
DESPERATE ATTEMPT They ''attacked army positions in a desperate attempt to flee'', the statement said.
At least three gunmen from outside the camp had also attacked an army position to help the fighters escape, security sources said.
Security forces patrolled the area, searching orchards and fields. Helicopters joined in the hunt and naval boats patrolled the Mediterranean coast. Security sources believe Fatah al-Islam set booby-traps around the camp.
Soldiers fired celebratory gunfire and locals threw rice at the troops to applaud their efforts. Soldiers sitting atop army vehicles waved Lebanese flags.
Most of the camp's 40,000 residents fled to a nearby Palestinian refugee camp in the early days of fighting, which erupted on May 20 when the army says Fatah al-Islam attacked its positions near the camp and the northern city of Tripoli.
Fatah al-Islam split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year. The hardline Sunni Islamist group includes Lebanese, Saudi and Syrian fighters. It shares al Qaeda's ideology but has no organisational ties to the network.
The militants had put up fierce resistance, managing to inflict casualties on the army despite aerial and artillery bombardment.
Their wives and children were evacuated from the camp on August 24.
The army said it would not allow anyone to enter the camp and called on Palestinians not to return for the time being.
''We
have
to
work
on
de-mining
and
rubble
removal,''
said
Hoda
Elturk,
a
spokeswoman
for
the
UN
agency
which
cares
for
the
Palestinian
refugee
community.
''We
are
waiting
for
the
green
light
from
the
army
to
enter
the
camp.''
REUTERS
RS
RAI2113