Lebanese army resumes shelling

06 Jun, 2007

Lebanese troops resumed their shelling of a Palestinian refugee camp on Tuesday, trying to force the surrender of al Qaeda-inspired militants entrenched amid thousands of civilians.
Intermittent bursts of gunfire and explosions were heard through the day at Fatah al-Islam's base in Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon, a sprawling shanty town which has been pounded by army artillery in more than two weeks of fighting.
"We saw things we had never seen in life," a wounded woman evacuated from the camp said on Tuesday. "I spent five or six days without bread or water. We thought the ones who did not die from the shelling would die from hunger."
At least 114 people have been killed in the Nahr al-Bared fighting, including 46 soldiers. The army says Fatah al-Islam triggered the conflict when it attacked the army on May 20. It renewed its call for the militants to surrender.

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