"Lebanon launches attack on militants in refugee camp".

[Brundle_Fly]

Source: cnn.com ( international edition )

>
BREAKING NEWS

Lebanon's military launches an attack on a Palestinian refugee camp where Islamic militants are staying. Details soon.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/01/lebanon.conflict/index.html

[Brundle_Fly]

1. This and Turks thinking

about heading into northern Iraq, Afghanistan is red hot, another summer of war is here.

[Eugene]

2. Lebanon masses tanks at camp gate

Source: Associated Press

Lebanon masses tanks at camp gate
Updated 42m ago

BEIRUT (AP) — Under an artillery cover, dozens of Lebanese
army tanks and armor massed outside a Palestinian refugee camp
in northern Lebanon Friday, apparently poised to storm Islamic
militants holed up inside.

About 50 armored carriers and tanks massed at the northern edge
of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according
to APTN television crew at the scene. But it was not clear whether
they were already making a push.

Military officials at the high command would not comment.

Plumes of smoke rose out of the Nahr el-Bared camp where Fatah
Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the
Lebanese army.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-01-lebanon-friday_N.htm

[maddezmom]

3. Lebanese army attacks militants at Palestinian camp

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 1 (Reuters) - Lebanese troops assaulted positions of al Qaeda-inspired militants entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Friday with some of the heaviest shelling in 13 days of fighting there.

Security sources said elite forces were trying to dislodge militants from some front positions on the edge of Nahr al-Bared camp while artillery batteries were pounding the area.

The military said the shelling was in retaliation for an earlier attack by the militants on army positions but did not confirm any major ground fighting. There was no immediate word on casualties.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01162568.htm

AlJazerra reporting that building are collapsing from the shelling. And Mike Hannah said that the head of the PLO said the situation in the camp is desperate, corpses are rotting in the street.

[laststeamtrain]

4. Lebanese Army Masses Around Camp

Lebanese Army Masses Around Camp


Friday June 1, 2007 9:31 Am

By BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press Writer

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) - Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved toward a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon Friday in pursuit of Islamic militants holed up inside.

The artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising above the Nahr el-Bared camp where Fatah Islam militants have been hanging on 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 forward-most positions, according to AP 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. But a significant decrease in 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.

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.

<more>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6676051,00.html

[merwin]

5. The DU title is very misleading and should be changed to the CNN title.

"Lebanon launches attack on militants in refugee camp"

Attacking a refugee camp and attacking militants in a refugee camp are two different things.

[dave_p]

6. Yes indeed

"Lebanon army renews attack on militants" would be even better. I feared for a moment this had spread somewhere else.

[Forkboy]

7. If you still have time you need to change this to the actual headline.

Big difference in the wording.

[maddezmom]

8. Lebanon army battles militants at camp, 14 die

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 1 (Reuters) - Battles raged around a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Friday, killing 14 people, as Lebanese troops tightened the noose around al Qaeda-inspired militants entrenched there.

At least 12 people were killed inside Nahr al-Bared camp as well as two soldiers, security sources said. They said 18 soldiers were wounded but could not say whether the 12 who died inside Nahr al-Bared camp were militants or civilians.

Security sources said elite forces seized several key positions of Fatah al-Islam militants and destroyed sniper nests on the northern edge of Nahr al-Bared while artillery batteries pounded the camp.

The army has been battling militants in the camp -- many of them foreign fighters -- since May 20 in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. At least 84 people -- 35 soldiers, 29 militants and 20 civilians -- had been killed before Friday.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01162568.htm

[maddezmom]

9. Lebanon army storms militant posts at camp, 18 die

Lebanon army storms militant posts at camp, 18 die
01 Jun 2007 15:53:37 GMT

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 1 (Reuters) - Tank-led Lebanese troops overran several positions of al Qaeda-inspired militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Friday, and 18 people were killed in the fiercest fighting in two weeks.

Security sources said at least 16 people were killed inside Nahr al-Bared camp as well as two soldiers. They said 60 civilians and 18 soldiers were wounded but could not say whether the 14 who died inside the camp were militants or civilians.

Advancing under a blanket of artillery and tank fire, elite forces seized key positions of Fatah al-Islam militants and destroyed sniper nests on the northern and eastern edges of Nahr al-Bared while artillery batteries pounded the camp.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01162568.htm

[bemildred]

10. 19 people, including 3 soldiers, killed in north Lebanon clashes

19 people, including at least three Lebanese soldiers, were killed in fierce fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Friday, security sources said.

The sources said 18 other soldiers were wounded and could not say whether the 12 who died inside Nahr al-Bared camp were Fatah al-Islam militants or civilians.

Meanwhile, under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved toward the refugee camp Friday in pursuit of the militants holed up inside.

The artillery bombardment sent clouds of white smoke rising out of the Nahr al-Bared 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.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/865915.html

[maddezmom]

11. Intense fighting resumes around Lebanon siege camp (Sat)

Intense fighting resumes around Lebanon siege camp 11 minutes ago



NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (AFP) - Fighting resumed between Lebanese troops and Islamists holed up in a northern refugee camp on Saturday, a day after the most intense exchanges of the two-week-old siege.

Soldiers were heavily pounding the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, where the army is besieging fringe militant group Fatah al-Islam, while machinegune fire was heard from inside, an AFP correspondent said.

Smoke was seen billowing from above the centre and north of the camp.

The army said it lost three soldiers in the intense exchanges on Friday, while a Palestinian official inside the camp said at least eight militants were also killed.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070602/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonunrestcamp_070602081115

[Screwfly]

12. I'm sure

I'm sure those Islamic militants or the Arab street won't take issue with a refugee camp is getting shelled and blasted with American made ordnance.

[Eugene]

13. (Saturday) Lebanon air force hits militants

Source: Associated Press

Lebanon air force hits militants

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - The Lebanese air force on Saturday joined
tanks and artillery in pounding Islamic militant hideouts on the
second day of an intensifying offensive to uproot al-Qaida-inspired
gunmen barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp.

A French-made Gazelle helicopter fired two missiles and directed
machine gun fire at suspected militant hideouts on the western edge
of the Noah el-Bared camp near the Mediterranean coastline, in an
apparent attempt to block any sea escape route.

It was the first time the army used its limited air force capability
in the battle, signifying the intensity of the ground fighting. The
army has helicopters, but no fixed wing aircraft.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070602/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_violence