Lebanese Military Battling Terrorists in Tripoli

The confrontation between the Lebanese Army and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp continued unabated today, after an eruption of violence on Sunday that claimed at least 39 lives and left dozens injured.

Lebanese troops shelled locations within the Nahr al Bared camp on the northern outskirts of this city, which houses about 40,000 Palestinian refugees. Militants belonging to the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam shot back with heavy machine-gun fire.

Eight civilians were killed by shelling today, according to Reuters, adding to the 22 Lebanese soldiers and 17 militants killed in the fierce fighting on Sunday.

Witnesses said that militants belonging to Fatah al-Islam fired rocket-propelled grenades as well as machine guns today at army posts on the camp perimeter, according to Reuters.

The continuing violence is one of the most significant challenges to the Lebanese army since the end of Lebanon’s bloody civil war.

It is curious how the Lebanese military is able to go after the Palestinian terrorists operating in the camps without so much as a peep from those who would otherwise be urging proportionality in the Israeli military's response to the same kind of attacks from Gaza.

What has driven these terrorists to engage in attacking the Lebanese military at this juncture? That isn't entirely clear, though one possibility is that the Syrians are trying to undermine and thwart the investigation into the Hariri assassination and may be supporting Fatah al Islam.

Another possibility is that Fatah al Islam is operating in conjunction with al Qaeda and trying to establish another safe haven from which to spring attacks against the West. Zarqawi used to be a close associate of Fatah al Islam's leadership. Despite the claim that Fatah in Gaza and West Bank have no ties to the group in Lebanon, that isn't entirely true.

Fatah al Islam is a splinter group that was originally part of Fatah when the PLO operated out of Lebanon. It has since become more radicalized and its goal mirrors that of Fatah and the PLO in general - the destruction of Israel. It faces a more difficult task since Shi'a dominated Hizbullah controls southern Lebanon, though the Hizbullah war last year may have lessened the friction between the various terrorist groups since their overall goal is consistent.

UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit has more on the situation, including news that a terrorist leader was killed by the Lebanese military. From Beirut to Beltway and Across the Bay think that Syria is behind the latest violence.

The Daily Star reports that 22 Lebanese soldiers and 19 terrorists were killed yesterday.

UPDATE:
The toll is now over 55 dead, but Charles of LGF points out an editorial that slams the Fatah al Islam attacks as getting people away from their common cause - going after Israel.

Fatah al-Islam has said that one of its primary objectives is to train the Palestinians “to fight the Jews in Palestine” - an activity that they have been carrying out more than 200 kilometers away from the Israeli border. But regardless of what the group has said of its stated objectives, the truth is that to date, the only people to have died at the hands of these militants have been Lebanese citizens and possibly Palestinians. Thus their sole accomplishment is that they have added to the suffering of the Lebanese and Palestinian people.

Michael Totten points out that these battles are the worst to hit the region since the Lebanese civil war.

UPDATE:
The Lebanese military isn't messing around with dropping leaflets or phoning residents to get out of the way before opening fire with rockets and artillery. They're just doing it. They're cutting power and firing on the areas that Fatah al Islam is known to operate from - right in the middle of residential areas.

UPDATE:
Video of the chaotic situation in Tripoli:



UPDATE:
More video from the BBC.