NAHR Al BARED, Lebanon - Thousands fled a Palestinian refugee camp at the centre of three days of ferocious fighting between Islamists and the Lebanese army after the truce was reached. ‘Thousands of refugees -- men, women and children -- started fleeing on foot or by car from Nahr Al Bared camp from early evening to take shelter in the nearby Beddawi camp,’ said Hajj Rifaat, an official there of the mainstream Palestinian faction Fatah. ‘Nahr Al Bared residents have taken advantage of the truce in the fighting to escape the besieged and heavily bombarded camp,’ said Rifaat.| Getting evicted from yet another country, eh, Paleos? |
The exodus to Beddawi, some 12 kilometres (seven miles) away, began several hours after the Al Qaeda-inspired Sunni Muslim group Fatah Al Islam declared a unilateral ceasefire. That came early in the afternoon, with fighting already at a lull at the squalid camp, transformed into a war zone by army shelling aimed at wiping out the group.
Around four hours later, spokesmen for both sides said the truce was holding, but a UN official said two Palestinian civilians were shot dead when aid trucks moved in with food, medical supplies and generators. ‘We don’t know the source of the fire, and we had to leave the camp immediately,’ said United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokeswoman Hoda Samra. All the food and medical supplies were successfully offloaded, but the water was hit and spilled.
‘We will try to deliver more supplies tomorrow,’ she said, although it was unclear how many of the 31,000 residents would remain there on Wednesday following the exodus.
| Preferably none. |
‘The problem will quickly become one of being able to provide extra food.’
In Tripoli, 10 kilometres (six miles) from Nahr Al Bared, local residents were taking in refugees from the camp, putting them up in schools, an AFP correspondent said.
| Mauritania is nice this time of year -- how 'bout Mauritania? The problem is, the Paleos are a problem wherever they go. They tried to overthrow the government in Jordan. They caused a civil war in Lebanon. They've made Gaza unlivable. They beat on the Kuwaitis during the occupation. They suppressed Iraqis for Saddam. The Saudis certainly don't trust them. And we're supposed to give them a country? |