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Lebanese Army Attempts to Seize Militant Positions Inside Camp
Artillery bombardment intensified at Nahr al-Bared around midmorning Friday, with Lebanese troops attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah al-Islam in the northeastern part of the Palestinian refugee camp.Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved against the Islamic militants surrounded in Nahr al-Bared near the northern port city of Tripoli. Clouds of white smoke billowed from the camp where Fatah al-Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. The shelling also ignited fires in the camp that spewed black smoke. The militants have barricaded themselves in residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings. About 50 armored carriers, battle tanks and military vehicles from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to Associated Press Television News crew at the scene. There was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, or were just advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. However, a resident from inside the camp said "Fatah al-Islam positions were overtaken and destroyed in the push." Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told APTN from Beirut: "I think the army is determined this time to go ahead and probably to reduce several pockets of Fatah al-Islam terrorists." A significant decrease at one point in the shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants. Artillery bombardment intensified at Nahr al-Bared several hours later, with Lebanese troops attempting to seize the main offices of Fatah al-Islam in the Samed quarter in the northeastern part of the camp. Al-Arabiya television said troops seized militant sniper positions. Television footage showed the movement of T-55 Russian-made tanks, French-made Panhard tanks, M-113 U.S.-built armored personnel carriers and jeeps with 106mm rifles mounted on them. Sandbags were packed on some of the vehicles. Military officials would not comment on the troop movements and journalists were pushed back further from the camp. But a statement by the army command said troops came under fire from the militants and the army was "responding with accurate and decisive fire to deter them." The statement said the army was at the same time avoiding civilian casualties. The concentrated bombardment began in the morning, with heavy barrages targeting Fatah al-Islam positions. Sporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three days of heavy fighting. A Lebanese soldier was killed by Islamic militants' sniper fire on Thursday. The death Thursday raised to 32 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed. The army has ringed the Nahr el-Bared camp with hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, poised to storm the camp and prevent militants from fleeing. The government has vowed to crush the militants, who have said they will fight till the end. Thousands of Palestinians have fled the camp, but thousands more are still inside, along with the Fatah al-Islam fighters. On Thursday, army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman toured the military positions around Nahr al-Bared, vowing to track down the militants responsible for killing the soldiers. On a separate front, members of the mainstream Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Jund al-Sham group exchanged gunfire in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon. According to the account, a Fatah militant, whose brother had been killed by the Islamists earlier this month, shot at one of Jun al-Sham members he thought was responsible, without hitting him. That led to an exchange of small arms fire and grenades that lasted about half an hour at the camp late Thursday.(Naharnet-AP-AFP) Posted by: mrp 2007-06-01 |
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