February 11, 2009 4:46 PM
- Text
Lebanese Army Pounds Militants' Hideout
Lebanon's army suffered additional casualties Saturday as it pressed ahead with an offensive to uproot al Qaeda-inspired militants, pounding their hideouts in a Palestinian refugee camp with artillery, a day after sending tanks and armored vehicles to seize positions in the camp's outer neighborhoods.
Three more soldiers were killed and five wounded Saturday, military officials said, leaving the army with five dead and 15 wounded since the offensive began Friday.
The Lebanese air force joined tanks and artillery in pounding Islamic militant hideouts on the second day of an intensifying offensive. 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.
Lebanese security officials said dozens of militants from the Fatah Islam group had been killed or wounded in the fighting since Friday, but the figure could not be independently verified, and a senior militant commander said only two fighters had been wounded since the fighting began.
Abu Hureira, deputy leader of Fatah Islam, conceded his fighters abandoned some positions in the northern end of the Nahr el-Bared camp in a "tactical" withdrawal. But he denied the army was advancing and vowed never to surrender, as the army again demanded Saturday.
"Morale was high. Let them come. We are ready," he said of the army, denying media reports that he and the leader, Shaker Youssef al-Absi were wounded. With the sound of firing clearly heard as he spoke, Abu Hureira said he was on the front line fighting off the army attack and al-Absi was safe in rear positions.
The army deaths raised to 37 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants had also been killed in the fighting before Friday's offensive. Civilian casualties could not be determined in the latest fighting since relief organizations were not allowed inside the camp.
But an official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of the major Palestinian guerrilla factions which had stayed on the sidelines, said 17 people had been wounded in the camp and some 400 houses destroyed in the army shelling.
Many of the camp's roughly 40,000 Palestinian refugees have fled, but thousands are still thought to be caught in the cross-fire, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
White smoke billowed from the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon Saturday as the thud of artillery, mixed with machine gun and automatic rifle fire, rang out in the morning. A black plume of smoke rose at midmorning, but it was not clear what was burning. A lull prevailed during the night after heavy battles Friday, with the army firing flares to monitor militants' movements and sporadically exchanging fire with the gunmen.
But the renewed bombardment in the morning signaled the army's continued push against the militants. The offensive, which began Friday, was the heaviest fighting since violence broke out between the military and Fatah Islam militants nearly two weeks ago.
The situation on the ground could not be independently verified. Journalists were pushed far away from the military zone, and media reports were conflicting on the military's achievements the previous day.
The military announced Friday it responded to militants' fire by seizing positions on the outer ring of the camp that Fatah Islam had used to attack the army. But the heavy pounding and rush of armor into the camp indicated the military was determined to squeeze the militants, who retreated into the narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings inside the camp.
Security officials said Saturday that military units continued "mop up of pockets" of resistance on the outskirts of the camp and its perimeter. The officials said the organizational skeleton of the group had been destroyed and that some fighters had sought refuge inside the camp.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Nahr el-Bared and its surrounding areas were divided into three zones, one under the effective control of the army, one held by the militants and a third zone controlled by civilians and Palestinian guerrilla factions refusing refuge to the militants.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Three more soldiers were killed and five wounded Saturday, military officials said, leaving the army with five dead and 15 wounded since the offensive began Friday.
The Lebanese air force joined tanks and artillery in pounding Islamic militant hideouts on the second day of an intensifying offensive. 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.
Lebanese security officials said dozens of militants from the Fatah Islam group had been killed or wounded in the fighting since Friday, but the figure could not be independently verified, and a senior militant commander said only two fighters had been wounded since the fighting began.
Abu Hureira, deputy leader of Fatah Islam, conceded his fighters abandoned some positions in the northern end of the Nahr el-Bared camp in a "tactical" withdrawal. But he denied the army was advancing and vowed never to surrender, as the army again demanded Saturday.
"Morale was high. Let them come. We are ready," he said of the army, denying media reports that he and the leader, Shaker Youssef al-Absi were wounded. With the sound of firing clearly heard as he spoke, Abu Hureira said he was on the front line fighting off the army attack and al-Absi was safe in rear positions.
The army deaths raised to 37 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants had also been killed in the fighting before Friday's offensive. Civilian casualties could not be determined in the latest fighting since relief organizations were not allowed inside the camp.
But an official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of the major Palestinian guerrilla factions which had stayed on the sidelines, said 17 people had been wounded in the camp and some 400 houses destroyed in the army shelling.
Many of the camp's roughly 40,000 Palestinian refugees have fled, but thousands are still thought to be caught in the cross-fire, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
White smoke billowed from the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon Saturday as the thud of artillery, mixed with machine gun and automatic rifle fire, rang out in the morning. A black plume of smoke rose at midmorning, but it was not clear what was burning. A lull prevailed during the night after heavy battles Friday, with the army firing flares to monitor militants' movements and sporadically exchanging fire with the gunmen.
But the renewed bombardment in the morning signaled the army's continued push against the militants. The offensive, which began Friday, was the heaviest fighting since violence broke out between the military and Fatah Islam militants nearly two weeks ago.
The situation on the ground could not be independently verified. Journalists were pushed far away from the military zone, and media reports were conflicting on the military's achievements the previous day.
The military announced Friday it responded to militants' fire by seizing positions on the outer ring of the camp that Fatah Islam had used to attack the army. But the heavy pounding and rush of armor into the camp indicated the military was determined to squeeze the militants, who retreated into the narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings inside the camp.
Security officials said Saturday that military units continued "mop up of pockets" of resistance on the outskirts of the camp and its perimeter. The officials said the organizational skeleton of the group had been destroyed and that some fighters had sought refuge inside the camp.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Nahr el-Bared and its surrounding areas were divided into three zones, one under the effective control of the army, one held by the militants and a third zone controlled by civilians and Palestinian guerrilla factions refusing refuge to the militants.
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