Lebanese Army Going In
The Times (London) reports:
The Lebanese Army pounded the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp yesterday with heavy artillery in the opening phase of a long-anticipated final offensive to destroy a band of Islamist militants.
Thick plumes of black smoke rose from the camp as fires that were caused by shelling raged out of control. Militants from Fatah al-Islam, who have declared that they will not surrender, fought back with mortars and machineguns.
The Lebanese Government appears to have taken the decision to end the bloody two-week stand-off between the army and Fatah al-Islam after protracted negotiations with Palestinian and Lebanese religious intermediaries failed to achieve a peaceful resolution. The fighting, in which 78 people have been killed and dozens more wounded, is the worst since the end of the civil war in 1990.
With Lebanon beset by deep political divisions and a worsening security climate, the violence in the north has presented a grave challenge to the authority of the Lebanese Government as well as the small, underequipped and largely untested army.
CNN adds:
Lebanese soldiers — backed by gunboats, heavy artillery and rows of tanks — entered a Palestinian refugee camp that has hosted days of fierce fighting north of Tripoli, a military source said Friday…
Columns of tanks rolled nearby as Lebanese troops entered the northern edges of the refugee camp, breaking more than a week of relative calm in the fighting between the army and Fatah al-Islam, a militant group alleged to be linked to al Qaeda.
Troops also pounded the camp with 155 mm shells in what is the heaviest daytime artillery fire seen since the beginning of the campaign. Lebanese security sources said the militants were pinned down in one area.
Before the battle, 30,000 Palestinians lived in the camp. Approximately 20,000 of them fled, 10,000 Palestinians are still in the camp.
The Lebanese government has, in my opinion, made the right decision. It cannot afford to let the Fatah al-Islam terrorists to take over the camp completely. Lebanon already has a major problem with Hezbollah in the south, having another terrorist organization running parts of the north would be disastrous.
