Lebanese Army seizes Fatah al-Islam positions

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Source: The Daily Star

Lebanese Army seizes Fatah al-Islam positions
Government gives military 'green light' to deal with security crisis in north
By Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff
Saturday, June 02, 2007

NAHR AL-BARED, NORTH LEBANON: Covered by an intense artillery barrage, the Lebanese Army drove Fatah al-Islam militants back from the periphery of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp Friday, with the army taking over militants' positions along the camp's perimeter. Residents of areas surrounding Nahr al-Bared awoke Friday to one of the heaviest battles between the army and the militants since clashes broke out two weeks ago, as the army pounded away with tank fire and artillery beginning at about 7 a.m., breaking the usual routine of heavy nighttime exchanges of fire.

As Palestinian mediation efforts stalled, the army moved in one day after the ruling majority declared its "full" support for whatever decision the army made, giving the military a green light to deal with the security crisis without state interference.

"We have encircled the building where the group's leader, Shaker Abssi, is holed up, and our forces are a 150 meters away," a military source told The Daily Staron condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Three army soldiers were confirmed dead and 10 others were wounded, said the source, raising the total of army deaths to 38.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=82710#

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1. Lebanese troops move in for the kill--Sunday June 3, 2007 (Observer)

Lebanese troops move in for the kill


A new emboldened Beirut government is forcing an end to a 10-day stand-off as negotiations fail

Mitchell Prothero in Nahr al-Bared camp, near Tripoli
Sunday June 3, 2007
The Observer

Lebanese troops pushing ever further into a besieged Palestinian refugee camp vowed to kill any members of the al-Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Islam group inside who did not surrender.

Lebanese officers on the scene said they would continue the assault until all of the militant jihadists were dead, and warned that any civilians who remained in the camp after last week's evacuation would be considered combatants.

The threats came as a Gazelle helicopter fired missiles into militant positions yesterday and strafed buildings.

Inside the camp, however, the militants' leaders remained defiant. 'There is no way we will give up our weapons because it is our pride. We cannot even contemplate surrendering,' spokesman Abu Salim Taha said by telephone from the Nahr al-Bared camp. Those inside the camp reported dire conditions. 'The situation is very miserable ... More than 60 per cent of the camp has been destroyed,' Abu Darwish, a camp resident said.

The fighting followed the deployment of scores of armoured vehicles last Friday to break the two-week siege. As the fighting continued for a second day, smoke rose over the camp amid the constant thud of artillery explosions.

The violence - the worst internal fighting since the end of Lebanon's civil war 17 years ago - has driven up to 25,000 of the camp's 31,000 residents to flee. Thousands remain trapped. The final drive to clear the camp of militants was ordered by Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fouda Siniora, who has been emboldened by a UN Security Council resolution to establish a tribunal to investigate the murder of the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

<more>

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2094165,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

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2. AP: Fighting continues in Lebanon camp

Fighting continues in Lebanon camp

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 46 minutes ago

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - White smoke rose from a Palestinian refugee camp Sunday as the Lebanese army resumed its bombardment of Islamic militants holed up there, the third day of a military offensive aimed at crushing the al-Qaida-inspired fighters.

<snip>

As part of the intensifying assault, the army on Saturday added air power to the battle. A helicopter gunship was deployed for the first time since fighting began May 20, firing two missiles and strafing militant positions. The air attack was an apparent attempt to block an escape route to the Mediterranean Sea.

<more>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_violence

[ohio2007]

3. Trouble in a southern Lebanese camp erupts

Fighting at second Lebanon camp

Fighting has broken out between soldiers and Islamist militants at a second Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, security officials say.
The violence in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, near the southern city of Sidon, is said to involve Jund al-Sham militants.


Two people - a soldier and a civilian - were injured when suspected militants fired a grenade at an army checkpoint.


snip
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Beirut says the Jund al-Sham militants are similar to those fighting Lebanese army troops in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.

snip

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6717121.stm

Why would these 'suspected' militants even think to fire on a checkpoint.
/sarc

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4. AP: Fighting erupts at second Lebanon camp

<snip>

According to an Associated Press photographer near the camp, a Fatah Islam sniper could be seen moving from one destroyed building to another as Lebanese troops bombarded the structure from where he was shooting. Security officials said another militant was firing rocket-propelled grenades from the minaret of a mosque, but it was not clear if the army would strike it.

The fighting between the army and Fatah Islam broke out in Tripoli and the nearby Nahr el-Bared camp on May 20. At least 22 soldiers and 17 militants were killed that day — the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Most of the camp's 31,000 refugees have fled to the nearby Beddawi camp, but at least 5,000 are believed still inside.

The standoff has raised concerns of more violence across Lebanon, which has 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 impoverished and overcrowded camps scattered throughout the country. Armed groups, including Islamic militants, operate with near complete freedom in the camps.

<more>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_violence

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5. NYT:Fighting With Militants Shows Signs of Spreading in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 3 — The deadly volley of shelling and sniper fire at the Nahr al Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon intensified today and fighting broke out between militias at another refugee camp in southern Lebanon, increasing fears that the two-week battle between the Lebanese Army and Islamist militants is spreading into other parts of the country.

Witnesses said one soldier was killed this evening and two militiamen were injured at the Ain el Hilwe camp near the southern Lebanese town of Sidon, but their reports could not be confirmed. Ain el Hilwe, a sprawling camp packed with more than 47,000 refugees where armed militias roam the streets, has been seen as a flashpoint by security officials here.

<more>

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-lebanon.html?ex=1338523200&en=949e54627adea599&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss