RAMALLAH/BEIRUT, 8 June 2007 — Fighting between Al-Qaeda-inspired militants and the Lebanese Army has dealt a setback to efforts to improve the lives of more than 400,000 Palestinians living in 12 Lebanese refugee camps, a top PLO negotiator said yesterday, calling for the creation of a 5,000-strong Palestinian security force in the shantytowns to rein in extremists.
The clashes in the Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli have left more than 100 people dead, forced some 27,000 out of their homes and further harmed the Palestinians’ image in Lebanon.
Militants threatened yesterday to widen attacks as tanks and helicopter gunships pounded their strongholds inside an impoverished Palestinian refugee camp.
“We will widen the scope of the attacks beyond Nahr Al-Bared” if the army continues its “destructive bombardment,” Fatah Al-Islam spokesman Shahine Shahine told reporters.
On the ground, a soldier was killed yesterday as the army mounted assaults using helicopter gunships equipped with heavy weapons and tanks. His death brought to 109 the total number of people killed since the start of the army campaign to wipe out the Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah Al-Islam, including 48 soldiers.
Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the camp, where around 4,000 of the original 31,000 residents are still trapped in precarious conditions. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that they face a new threat from unexploded munitions, which were also obstructing relief aid.
“It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris and rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp’s roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles,” said Jordi Raich Curco, ICRC chief in Lebanon.
Early yesterday, a hand grenade exploded in a Christian suburb of Beirut, damaging several vehicles and further rattling the security situation after a series of bomb blasts in and around the capital. Another grenade blew up in the mountainous region of Dahr Al-Wahesh, east of Beirut, without causing damage.
Two sticks of dynamite also exploded in a bathroom at the Maronite church’s Notre Dame University in the northern town of Koura, without causing any casualties, an official said.
Security forces also dismantled three booby-trapped cars in the eastern village of Bar Elias, following confessions by two Syrians, an Iraqi and a Palestinian who were arrested for possessing weapons a day earlier. The four are accused of being Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist extremists.
The Lebanese authorities have demanded that the Fatah Al-Islam militants entrenched in Nahr Al-Bared surrender, particularly those blamed for killing 27 soldiers on the first day of the fighting, which erupted on May 20.
But Shahine said most of the wanted men had been killed or wounded. “Very few of them are still taking part in the fight,” he said. The mainstream Palestinian faction Fatah, which is not linked to Fatah Al-Islam, said some members of the Sunni Muslim group had surrendered but there was no confirmation of this.
On Wednesday, a military prosecutor in Beirut indicted 11 men from Fatah Al-Islam for “acts of terrorism,” bringing to 31 the total number charged since the fighting started. Most of those detained are Lebanese.
