Nahr al-Bared Largely Ignored Because IDF Isn’t Involved
Lebanese troops have intensified their assault on the perimeter of a Palestinian refugee camp, demanding the surrender of Islamist militants inside.
A helicopter fired two missiles into Nahr al-Bared camp, backing up machine gun and cannon fire that had reportedly destroyed the militants’ sniper posts.
Five soldiers have died since the latest assault began on Friday.
The 13-day confrontation between troops and militants has killed more than 100 people, many of them civilians.
The UN says about 25,000 of the camp’s 31,000 original residents have fled. Aid agencies have called for a ceasefire to allow more civilians to leave.
The violence, which is taking place in the north of the country, near the city of Tripoli, is the worst internal fighting Lebanon has seen since the end of its civil war 17 years ago.
