Two killed in mounting clashes in refugee camp in Lebanon

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) SIDON, Lebanon: Two members of thePalestinian group Fatah were killed in worsening clashes withIslamist groups in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon onWednesday, medical sources said, bringing the number of dead tosix in nearly a week of fighting.

The clashes at the Ain el-Hilweh camp began late lastThursday between Islamist fighters and a joint force comprisingthe main Palestinian factions, including Fatah, which areresponsible for the camp's security.

Two other Fatah members and two Islamist fighters hadalready been killed and a total of 15 combatants and civilianshave been wounded, a security source said.

The source said clashes had escalated on Wednesday, whengunfire wounded three people, including two Lebanese securitypersonnel, outside the camp.

The fighting was triggered when a leader of an armed factionsympathetic to the Islamist Badr group fired at the headquartersof the joint security force last week.

In April, seven people were killed in clashes in the campbetween the Badr group and the joint security force after itdeployed there.

Lebanon's Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 warbetween Israel and its Arab neighbours, mainly fall outside thejurisdiction of Lebanese security services. There are some450,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps in Lebanon.

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