Wednesday, 23 May 2007

 A shaky truce in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp that began on 4:30 p.m. Tuesday was still in place late in the day, following a morning of sporadic shelling of militant positions by the Lebanese army. The army insisted that it had not targeted civilians in its fight with Fatah al-Islam militants inside the camp and had only responded to hostile fire.

Civilians evacuated from the camp said that  Fatah al islam fighters had fired at army positions from the rooftops buildings in the camp.

The army reported no casualties in its ranks on Tuesday, after 31 soldiers were killed in the first two days of fighting and 55 were wounded.

While no verifiable tally of civilian casualties inside the camp was available, various sources within Nahr al-Bared said that dozens had died and at least 100 had been wounded.

The army reported Monday that 25 militants had been killed in the fighting. United Nations workers said that three residents were killed while attempting to collect supplies from relief trucks early Tuesday afternoon.

Soldiers are thoroughly searching all cars moving in the vicinity of the camp, a commander at the site said

 

The army regained control of positions at the entrance to the camp which it had lost to Fatah al-Islam militants on Sunday, and the main highway leading to the Syrian border was reopened Tuesday.

Soldiers were seen rescuing camp residents who made it to the camp’s gate under a shower of gunfire.

"They saved us, the army," Safa Moaarbani, 20, a Lebanese citizen living in Nahr al-Bared, told The Daily Star after emerging from the camp.

Like most residents of Nahr al-Bared, Moaarbani’s family had been trapped inside the camp since fighting started early Sunday morning. She reported heavy shelling and a lack of water and power.

"Members of Fatah al-Islam were on the roofs of our houses, so we ran away from the house before it was hit," said a visibly shaken Moaarbani. "As we ran to the gate of the camp, we saw a dead body on the street," she cried.

Angry Palestinians  burned tires in two other camps on Tuesday to protest the army’s actions. Several buildings are believed to have been demolished as a result of the shelling, and relief workers said they believe wounded and dead residents are trapped under rubble.

The truce allowed relief workers to enter the camp.

Twelve wounded Palestinian refugees, including four children, were rescued over the past two days from Nahr al-Bared and are recovering from serious injuries at the Safad Hospital near Baddawi refugee camp.

Ahmad Sharshoura, 8, moaned in pain, his body punctured by shrapnel from a shell that destroyed a house where he was huddled with his family.

"Pain, I feel pain," said a heavily sedated Sharshoura, as his mother sat next to him weeping and angry over what had happened to her child

Most of the wounded interviewed said they were hiding away in their homes or in shelters when they were hit.

As reports of civilian casualties emerged Tuesday, Palestinian factions that had showed support for the Lebanese government and the army a day earlier warned that fighting could spread to other camps if civilians inside Nahr al-Bared continued to be targeted.

"I hold the army personally responsible for what they did to me," said 28-year-old Nehal Bashir, who was shot in his thigh by an army sniper.

"They are not just targeting Fatah al-Islam, but all the Palestinians in the camp … They are worse than the Israeli Army."

The commander of Fatah in Lebanon,  al-Aynayn, told The Daily Star that camp elders were talking with Fatah al-Islam over sustaining the truce and ending the standoff, but that his group would not. "The PLO and Fatah do not speak to this criminal gang," he said.

Abu al-Aynayn said that Fatah had begun to evacuate the wounded when the cease-fire went into effect and expressed hope that the truce would become permanent. He also sought to clarify earlier remarks in which he had said that the shelling could cause "uprisings in all the camps in Lebanon."

If the army randomly shelled Nahr al-Bared, Abu al-Aynayn said, "we may not be able to control the reactions from the other camps, because the army’s actions have changed [Palestinian] public opinion."

Fatah al-Islam spokesman Abou Salim taha
 told The Associated Press that the group had called for a unilateral cease-fire at 2:30 p.m. "to stop the bloodshed of children and the elderly."

Abu Salim said that if the Lebanese Army abided by the cease-fire it would hold, but if the army continues its attacks "we are ready to fight until the last drop of blood."

An army spokesperson told The Daily Star early Tuesday afternoon that soldiers would hold their fire "as long as we are not fired upon."

Soon afterward, at about 3 p.m., assault-rifle fire from inside the camp struck army positions at the northern edge of Nahr al-Bared. The army responded with mortar bombs.

A statement issued by the army Tuesday said that Fatah al-Islam had attacked army positions around the camp the night before, resulting in many casualties. The attacks "necessitated responding to the source of hostile fire, accurately and with the appropriate weaponry."

"The army command, while stressing its deep concern for preserving civilian life, Lebanese or Palestinian, denies the false claims being made by some that the army intentionally targets civilian homes or places of worship," it added.

The army also released the names and photographs of 12 more soldiers killed in action at Nahr al-bared.