This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6974708.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Islamists killed in Lebanon clash | Islamists killed in Lebanon clash |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Twenty Islamist militants have been killed by Lebanese government troops as they tried to flee a besieged refugee camp, army officials say. | Twenty Islamist militants have been killed by Lebanese government troops as they tried to flee a besieged refugee camp, army officials say. |
| Two soldiers were also killed in the clash near the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. | Two soldiers were also killed in the clash near the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. |
| The camp has seen fierce clashes between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants since May. | The camp has seen fierce clashes between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants since May. |
| Thousands of refugees have fled the violence, which has seen more than 300 people killed, including civilians. | |
| Militants seized | |
| An army statement said the militants had staged a "desperate attempt to flee" the camp on Sunday, Reuters news agency reported. | |
| The militants reportedly attacked at least two checkpoints outside Nahr al-Bared. | |
| A number of militants were captured during the battle, army officials said. | |
| Last week Lebanese security officials said they believed that only about 30 Fatah al-Islam fighters remained in the camp, though other reports put the number slightly higher. | |
| Much of the camp, which was once home to about 30,000 people, has been reduced to rubble by shelling from artillery and tanks during the fighting. | |
| The clashes have seen Lebanon's worst internal violence since the end of the civil war in 1990. | |
| Fatah al-Islam, which has been linked to al-Qaeda, emerged in 2006 when it split from Fatah al-Intifada (Fatah Uprising), a Syrian-backed Palestinian group based in Lebanon. | |
| The Lebanese government has also linked Fatah al-Islam to the Syrian intelligence services. Officials in Damascus and Fatah al-Islam deny the connection. |