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

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

	Advertisement

Television footage showed heavy black smoke billowing from many of the Nahr al-Bared camp's buildings, some riddled by bullets and punctured by shells.

"The army is trying to control positions that the militants are using to target the army," a military source said. The army sent heavy reinforcements, including armored carriers and special combat units, that were spotted heading toward the camp.

The main road linking Tripoli with the province of Akkar and the Syrian border was closed Saturday for the first time in several days.

It was not immediately clear if the army intended to make a final push toward the camp in its attempt to uproot the militants hiding there.

Local and Arab television stations billed it as a major army assault on
militants inside the camp, but a senior Fatah al-Islam commander denied the
reports and said fighters were holding their ground.

"We are steadfast and, God willing, we will not retreat for one moment. Let them (army) advance if they want. ... We are on the front lines across from them," Abu Hureira, Fatah al-Islam's deputy commander, said by telephone from inside the camp.

Abu Hureira, whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour, dismissed as rumors media reports that he and Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker Youssef al-Absi, were wounded.

He said some fighters were lightly injured but "it's nothing compared to them," he said, referring to Lebanese army casualties.

He said the militants were still fighting with the same tenacity, claiming that Fatah al-Islam fighters attacked an army position on the northern edge of the camp Friday and seizing weapons from Lebanese army soldiers.

Tensions in Lebanon have been high since fighting broke out May 20 between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants in Nahr el-Bared. Fears of spreading chaos have also been sparked by clashes at another Palestinian refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh in the south, and several bombings in the Beirut area.

In a statement issued Friday, the army said it was "gradually taking control of the terrorists' positions in Nahr el-Bared to end this abnormal phenomenon ... imposed on Lebanon." The statement did not say how many militant positions were overtaken so far.

More than 120 people, including at least 60 Fatah al-Islam militants, 49 soldiers and 20 civilians, have been reported killed in the fighting - the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war.

Recent civilian casualties are not known because the camp has been closed to journalists and aid workers for days. Though most of Nahr el-Bared's residents have fled, thousands remain trapped inside.

A United Nations spokeswoman denied media reports Saturday that the UN
peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, had raised its alert level because of unconfirmed reports that interrogations with captured militants had revealed plots to attack the expanded UNIFIL force that was formed after the Second Lebanon War.

"There is absolutely no raised threat. We have full confidence in the Lebanese armed forces to secure law and order throughout the country," said UNIFIL deputy spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane.