Lebanon army tightens grip around militants in camp

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Battles raged around a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Friday as Lebanese troops tightened the noose around al Qaeda-inspired militants holed up there.

Security sources said elite forces dislodged Fatah al-Islam militants from some front positions and destroyed several sniper nests on the northern edge of Nahr al-Bared while artillery batteries pounded the camp.

A Fatah al-Islam source acknowledged the militants had lost some positions but said they retook them in a counter-attack during nine hours of fierce fighting.

The army has been battling militants in the camp -- many of them foreign fighters, Lebanese authorities say -- since May 20 in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. At least 84 people -- 35 soldiers, 29 militants and 20 civilians -- have been killed.

Artillery and machinegun fire shook the camp from early morning. At times shells exploded at a rate of 10 a minute and smoke billowed from buildings inside as fires raged.

"It is clear that this is the start of an army assault," said a Palestinian source with contacts in the camp. He said early reports indicated there were civilian casualties.

The camp, set up in 1948 as a temporary tent camp to house Palestinian refugees fleeing their homes after the creation of Israel, is now a small town with small concrete buildings and narrow alleyways.

A military source said the army destroyed several structures overlooking its positions on the camp's edge. "Snipers have been using these outposts to fire at our soldiers," he said.