Jenin - 60 killed = massacre
Nahr el-Bared - 40 killed = story? what story?
news.bbc.co.uk
Last Updated: Sunday, 20 May 2007, 16:22 GMT 17:22 UK
Fatah Islam militants have been accused of links to al-Qaeda
Lebanese troops have been battling an Islamic militant group following an attack on soldiers at a Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Tripoli.
At least 10 members of the Fatah Islam group were reportedly killed in a day of fighting against the Lebanese army.
Fatah Islam fighters - said to be linked to al-Qaeda - killed at least 13 troops near the Nahr el-Bared camp.
There were reports of injured civilians inside the camp, as the army bombarded militants with tanks and heavy weapons.
Residents said at least 40 civilians were injured, AFP news agency said, and a Lebanese army spokesman said another 27 soldiers were injured.
Lebanon is home to more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom fled their homes when Israel was created in 1948.
'Unprovoked aggression'
Fighting erupted on Sunday morning after security forces raided a building in Tripoli to arrest suspects in a bank robbery.
After resisting arrest, militants said to belong to Fatah Islam then attacked army posts at the entrances to the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, which is home to some 30,000 displaced Palestinians.
The military is banned from entering the camp under a 38-year-old deal.
Several hours later a large force of Lebanese troops hit back at Fatah Islam, storming the building on the outskirts of Tripoli and killing a number of militants.
Fatah Islam spokesmen portrayed the fighting as an unprovoked aggression by the Lebanese army.
"The problem began with repeated arrests of our brothers in Tripoli. We've always defended Sunnis in Lebanon," a spokesman called Abu Salim told al-Jazeera TV.
Hariri link?
Fatah Islam is a radical Palestinian splinter group alleged to have links with al-Qaeda. Lebanese officials also believe it has ties to Syrian intelligence.
Other Palestinian groups have distanced themselves from Fatah Islam, which emerged last year after splitting from a Syrian-backed Palestinian splinter group, says the BBC's Beirut correspondent Jim Muir.
Map
After the violence broke out, Syria temporarily closed two border crossings with northern Lebanon because of security concerns.
Some link the eruption in violence to moves at the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, two years ago, our correspondent says.
Syria is against the tribunal, and some Lebanese government sources have accused Damascus of trying to stir up trouble to head it off.
Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, said Fatah Islam was making a deliberate attempt to destabilise the country.
The Nahr el-Bared camp has been under scrutiny since two bus bombings in a Christian area of Beirut in February, blamed on Fatah Islam militants based in the camp. |
