Posted on 06/28/2007 1:13:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops raided an Islamic militant hideout in a hillside cave and killed six fighters Thursday as violence spread from a Palestinian refugee camp where the military has been battling an al-Qaida-inspired group.
The dawn gunbattle — a 20-minute drive from the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian camp by the northern port city of Tripoli — showed the Fatah Islam militants may have found allies among some of the region's Sunnis, ready to provide or point out hiding places.
The fighting at Nahr el-Bared has become the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, and is believed to have claimed the lives of more than 160 people, including 84 soldiers, at least 60 militants and more than 20 civilians.
Fighting first began five weeks ago in Tripoli, a largely Sunni city. Then, it shifted to the Nahr el-Bared camp, after the militants barricaded themselves inside it.
Last weekend, it moved back to Tripoli, and on Thursday to the hills near Qalamoun, 3 miles south of the city.
Troops, backed by helicopters, descended on a Fatah Islam hideout obscured by dense growth in the hills above the Mediterranean coastline. The military said a number of soldiers were slightly wounded in the clashes.
The army was apparently tipped about the hideout by residents of a nearby village who had spotted strangers in the area.
An army said a unit pursuing militants in the area clashed with "a group of terrorists" barricaded inside a cave.
"The force eliminated all six members of the group, seizing a quantity of arms and ammunition," it said. The six were of different nationalities, the army said but did not identify them.
Qalamoun hospital officials said the dead included three Saudis, two Lebanese and a sixth man whose nationality was not immediately known. However, a security official in Beirut identified the slain militants as three Saudis, two Syrians and an Iraqi. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
The slain militants were all members of Fatah Islam, said the security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Fatah Islam is believed to consist of mostly foreigners, and Lebanon's Western-backed government has accused the group of trying to launch a rebellion in the north of the country.
The army has vowed to crush the militants since some 30 soldiers were killed during the first day of fighting — some as they slept in their tents around Nahr el-Bared, and others, who were off-duty, ambushed on the highway in Qalamoun.
Thursday's military statement vowed "to track down terrorists relentlessly" and not to leave them "any safe haven" to stage attacks.
President Emile Lahoud reiterated a demand that the militants surrender "as the only way" to end the fighting in the camp, parts of which have been devastated by the army bombardment.
Most of the camp's 30,000 Palestinians have fled to another camp nearby, but dozens of armed militants are believed to be holed up in Nahr el-Bared, along with several thousand civilians.
Fatah Islam leaders have threatened to take the fighting with the Lebanese army outside the camp if it continues its military offensive at Nahr el-Bared.
On Sunday, Lebanese troops raided an apartment complex in Tripoli suspected of housing Islamic militants, sparking a gunbattle that left six militants, a soldier and three others dead. Police were still investigating whether those militants had any links to Fatah Islam.
Qalamoun hospital officials said the dead included three Saudis, two Lebanese and a sixth man whose nationality was not immediately known. However, a security official in Beirut identified the slain militants as three Saudis, two Syrians and an Iraqi. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
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Saudi Syrian and Iraqi..
Good job, Lebanon!
The sixth man was later captured at 2000 hours local time (GMT+3) Thursday evening. They stayed hidden in several caves since May 20, one of them the famous cave where Saint Marina lived.
Pictures taken by a photo amateur:
http://www.elmarada.com/ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4581&Itemid=77
There was only five killed initially, while six men were originnally spotted by the observation team. So this is why everybody (civilian) did not have the exact count.
Thanks for the update and link.
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