Army bombards terrorist position in North Lebanon

The Lebanese army launched a massive
barrage of bombs in what appeared to be the start of a final showdown
with the Fatah al-Islam terrorists on Thursday, in the northern Nahr
al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

“Today’s
bombardment is a first step in the final battle against the terrorist
group whose fighters have refused to surrender to the army,” an army
officer at the scene said.

But the military command denied reports that the shelling was part of a final assault on Fatah al-Islam terrorists.

The heavy artillery barrage, which started at dawn Thursday, came
hours after some 200 residents were evacuated from Nahr al-Bared.

About 140 Palestinian militants, not connected to Fatah al-Islam,
were evacuated by military trucks to a Lebanese army barracks, a
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) source said.

The army said two soldiers were killed Thursday. That brought the
overall death toll to 176, including 88 soldiers and at least 68
Islamists since the fighting erupted May 20 when the Islamists, who are
of different Arab nationalities, launched a string of attacks on
Lebanese soldiers, killing 27 of them around the camp and in nearby
Tripoli, according to the military.

In a statement denying reports that it had announced a final
assault, the army said that “the ongoing military operatios are still
in the context of tightening the noose on the gunmen to force them to
surrender.”

Clouds of thick black smoke billowed over Nahr al-Bared on Thursday
as artillery shells slammed Fatah al-Islam positions in the old sector
of the camp at a rate of 15 rounds per minute, Future television
reported.

The Voice of Lebanon radio station said Thursday that some 3,000
Lebanese army troops were believed to have taken part in the imminent
crackdown on Fatah al-Islam terrorists holed up in the “old camp” on
the southern tip of Nahr al-Bared.

The daily An Nahar on Thursday, however, said the zero hour for the
military showdown was not expected to be announced before the weekend.

It said the army may not storm the camp outright but seize some strategic positions gradually and over time.

Before the evacuation started, some 400 people were estimated to be
living in the camp’s old sector compared to the shantytown’s original
population of about 30,000 before the confrontation broke out May 20.

An Nahar said 11 evacuees were arrested after being debriefed by the army at a nearby garrison.

The paper said that the last batch that was intended to flee the
camp Wednesday evening comprised of a number of the wives of Fatah
al-Islam fighters and well as other family members.

According to information obtained by An Nahar, it said the militants
at the last minute refused to allow the batch to leave the camp.

On Wednesday, the eve of the anniversary of the start of last year’s
Israel-Hizbullah war, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora called for the army
to “put a final end” to the Fatah al-Islam “terrorists,” in an apparent
green light to storm the camp.

A Palestinian official said the evacuation from the seafront camp
near northern Lebanon’s port city of Tripoli would “allow the Lebanese
army to operate more freely, and without putting civilians at risk.”

Source: Naharnet

Via: Yalibnan