Lebanon's Army Makes Big Push Against Camp
Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers on Friday pushed forward against Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
The concentrated bombardment began in the morning, with heavy barrages targeting all parts of the Nahr el-Bared camp, where Fatah Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army, barricading themselves in the camp's residential neighborhoods of narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings.
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.
By late afternoon, an army communiqué called on the militants to surrender and urged Palestinians not to provide them a safe haven.
The Lebanese minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Michel Faraoun, told the BBC that the military had been given a "green light" to deal with the militants.
The army statement said the army had destroyed positions from which militants attacked troops and civilians, and "tightened the ring" around them, causing many casualties. It also said that other militants had fled to residential neighborhoods and had taken civilians as "human shields."
"The army is attempting to prevent the gunmen from using high points for sniper fire. We are now controlling high points just outside the camp," a military spokesman, who did not wish to be identified, told Agence France-Presse.
Two Lebanese soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in the fighting Friday, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The officials said that a "unit" of Fatah Islam militants was "wiped out" but gave no casualty count.
Palestinian representative to Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, told al-Jazeera television that the military action was limited, engaging militants on the camp's outer areas. He said there would be no storming of the camp's interior, where thousands of civilians remain.
Military officials would not give specifics about troop movements and journalists were ordered further back from the camp.
Friday's deaths raised to 34 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants also have been killed before Friday's fighting.
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 positions, according to an AP Television News crew at the scene.
At one point Friday, a significant decrease in the shelling, accompanied by a barrage of machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, indicated the troops were in close combat with the militants.
But the bombardment again intensified several hours later. The security officials said the army had seized or controlled by fire the Samed and Khan main positions of the militants on the camp's northern edge. They said operation sought to silence the militant fire to protect army positions.
A resident from inside the camp said some Fatah Islam positions were overtaken and destroyed in the push. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of militant reprisals.
"What we have decided is to deal with Fatah Islam as a group, a terrorist group taking hostages who are left in the camp," said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. He told AP Television News in Beirut that the army may be seeking to isolate the militants.
"I think the army is determined this time to go ahead and probably to reduce several pockets of Fatah Islam terrorist," he said.
Cabinet Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya television that the army came under sniper fire earlier Friday and decided to respond. "It seems they have destroyed those positions."
Zaki, the Palestinian representative to Lebanon, expressed hope that the siege would be tightened. After meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, Zaki spoke of "tangible measures to force this group to raise its hands in the air and surrender to justice."
A soldier belonging to an armored carriers unit on the camp's edge said the troops were advancing slowly and fighting building-to-building, after bombing positions in the morning.
"They are in very well-fortified positions," he said of the militants, adding troops were coming under sniper fire. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.
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.
Sporadic gunfire exchanges have continued daily since a truce halted three first days of heavy fighting. The army has ringed Nahr el-Bared with hundreds of soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, while the government has vowed to crush the militants, who have said they will fight till the end.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency estimates that about 21,000 of the refugee camp's residents have fled, but that 5,000 to 6,000 remain.