Lebanese Military Continue Fight Against Fatah al Islam

he Lebanese Army continued advancing against Fatah al-Islam positions in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Friday, taking over buildings used by Fatah al-Islam snipers and tightening the army's grip on what remains of the militant group's fighters amid heavy and persistent bombardment.

Fierce battles erupted around the camp's Samed center, the Cooperative building and UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools, where the remnants of Fatah al-Islam fighters are holed up. Thick plumes of smoke were seen billowing from these positions as fires engulfed buildings around the area. While the army reported no casualties, an estimated 16 Fatah al-Islam fighters are believed to have fallen on Friday, six of them at the Mhammara front, said a report by the National News Agency.

The army briefly stopped bombardment at about noon to allow camp residents to go to Friday prayers. The reduction in the intensity of the bombardment allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in conjunction with the Palestinian Red Crescent, to ferry out 85 camp residents, mostly women, children, the elderly and the infirm.

Virginia De LaGuardia, an ICRC spokeswoman, told The Daily Star Friday evening seven ambulances managed to enter the camp to evacuate civilians. In addition, humanitarian-aid deliveries were made for the remaining civilians inside the camp.

"Today we managed to get in 1,200 liters of water, 1.9 metric tons of canned tuna and 1.6 metric tons of meals-ready-to-eat," De LaGuardia said. "We enter the camp whenever we can. It's always very difficult - there is a lot of rubble and debris, as well as unexploded ordnance. That is why we send ambulances [and] not trucks - because it's difficult to maneuver."

Tanks and heavy artillery opened an intensive barrage on militant positions at about 9 a.m. Friday morning, responding to machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from inside the camp targeting army positions in Khan al-Abde to the north of the camp. Artillery fire also targeted militant positions at the northern bank of the Bared River, close to the main road at the center of the camp.

The Lebanese military isn't backing down on its threats to eliminate Fatah al Islam or force them to surrender. For its part, Fatah al Islam continues to hold out against the Lebanese military, perhaps hoping that some other terrorist group decides to enter the fray.

Three Lebanese soldiers were killed as the fighting continues.

Lebanese troops shelled al Qaeda-inspired militants entrenched in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp on Saturday and three soldiers died in the heavy battles, security sources said.

They said 21 soldiers were also wounded in Saturday's battles in which machinegun fire reverberated and heavy artillery shelling rocked the camp's edges from early morning.

Television footage showed heavy black smoke billowing from many of the camp's buildings, some punctured by shells.

"The army is trying to control positions that the militants are using to target the army," a military source said.

"The militants sometimes intensify their efforts (and launch stronger attacks), and sometimes resort to sniper attacks from these positions."

At least 118 people, including 50 soldiers and 38 militants, have been killed since the fighting began on May 20 -- almost three weeks ago -- making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Only a few thousand of the 40,000 residents now remain in the coastal camp short of food, water and electricity. The main road linking Tripoli to the Syrian border was closed for the first time in about a week.

"There is no movement between the camp's neighbourhoods because some shells are falling in civilian areas. The basic necessities of life aren't available," a resident of the camp, said by telephone.

The closure of the road between Tripoli and Syria is key - it prevents Fatah al Islam from being reinforced.