Al Qaeda-inspired militants killed six Lebanese soldiers on Thursday in fierce battles at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, security sources said. They said 22 soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in fighting at the Nahr al-Bared camp which began in the early morning after Fatah al-Islam snipers shot dead two soldiers.
Prompting Lebanese troops to unleash artillery barrages. The army and Fatah al-Islam militants have been fighting at the coastal camp for nearly eight weeks. At least 212 people have been killed, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Security and political sources said on Wednesday the army, concerned about being drawn into a war of attrition, had decided to mount an all-out assault on the camp to root out the militants, who have defied demands that they surrender. However, a military statement denied Thursday's fighting was a final push, saying the operations "are still in the framework of tightening the noose on the gunmen to force them to surrender and submit to justice".
Witnesses said the army was bombarding the camp, often at a rate of seven to 10 artillery shells per minute. Black smoke billowed from its battered buildings, most of which had been reduced to rubble. Lebanese navy gunboats took part in the shelling.