UN workers and a de-mining expert on Wednesday entered the refugee camp devastated by a 15-week-long battle between Lebanese soldiers and Islamist fighters, a UN official said. The group visited Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to assess damage to buildings of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) inside the shantytown still off-limits to civilians and the media, Hoda Samra said. "It was a quick exploratory mission to survey UNRWA buildings and water wells inside the camp" in northern Lebanon, she told AFP. "The buildings are severely damaged."The UN team, escorted by army troops, was accompanied by a de-mining consultant from the Britain-based Mine Advisory Group (MAG), she said. The delegation also included an engineer from the private construction firm Khatib and Alami which has been selected by the Lebanese government as a consultant for the reconstruction of Nahr al-Bared, another UN source said.
On Monday, Lebanon appealed for almost 400 million dollars in international aid to rebuild Nahr al-Bared which was devastated by the battle between troops and Islamists of the Fatah al-Islam militia.