Another day in the hell

You read news and it seems like reading war bulletins...

An-Nahar reports that a military spokesman said two Lebanese army soldiers and two Islamist extremists from Jund al-Sham were killed in the overnight clashes at Ain al-Hilweh.
They said 11 other people were also wounded in the fighting which broke out anew after militants attacked army checkpoints in Taamir, a residential area adjacent to Ain al-Hilweh, with grenades, prompting Lebanese troops to respond with artillery and machine gun fire.
Back at Nahr al-Bard, Lebanese troops on Sunday pushed ahead, pounding Fatah al-Islam hideouts relentlessly.
An Nahar reports also that mosques there now are dual-use. They are places in which to pray. They are also armed camps. They are also, possibly, terrorist targets. Suicide bombers reportedly detonated themselves at the Thawra mosque. Perhaps someone ignited himself a little too early. Maybe the keepers of that mosque were hostile to Fatah al-Islam. Who knows...
military spokesman said two Lebanese army soldiers and two Islamist extremists from Jund al-Sham were killed in the overnight clashes at Ain al-Hilweh.

They said 11 other people were also wounded in the fighting which broke out anew after militants attacked army checkpoints in Taamir, a residential area adjacent to Ain al-Hilweh, with grenades, prompting Lebanese troops to respond with artillery and machine gun fire.
Back at Nahr al-Bard, Lebanese troops on Sunday pushed ahead, pounding Fatah al-Islam hideouts relentlessly.
Many in Lebanon believed the army would be able to crush the Fatah al-Islam quickly, but after three days of fierce battles using artillery and tanks, the troops continued to face strong resistance.
Lebanese security officials said that Nahr al-Bared had been strategically divided into three zones. The army was controlling one zone, the militants held another, while Palestinian civilians and Fatah al-Islam guerrillas controlled the third and were refusing the militants sanctuary, they said.
The casualties raised the army's death toll to 44 since the standoff began two weeks ago. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants have also been killed, but casualties in the camp in the last three days were unknown because relief organizations were banned from entering.
Earlier Sunday, the army denied that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was helping Lebanese troops in their fight against Fatah al-Islam.


*** Update: Tensions were running high in the refugee camps of Rashidiyeh and Borj al-Shamali near the southernmost port city of Tyre, state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Monday. It said militants from the mainstream Fatah movement and other allied factions have kept an all-night vigil over the two camps. NNA said sporadic clashes continued through the night and Monday morning between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam militants holding out inside the northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared. It said the main road linking the Akkar province with the rest of north Lebanon was open for traffic.

*** Visit here to see the maps of the camps with the ongoing fightings

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Nuovi scontri sono scoppiati all'alba a uno degli ingressi del campo profughi palestinese di Ein el Helweh, a Sidone, dove già ieri ci sono stati incidenti, durati un paio di ore, dopo che militanti islamici hanno colpito con dei razzi una postazione dell'esercito all'esterno del campo.
Gli scontri di ieri si sono conclusi a seguito di una mediazione degli altri gruppi palestinesi, ma all'alba di oggi ci sono stati ancora violenti scambi di colpi di arma da fuoco tra soldati e islamici di Jund al Sham. Secondo fonti della sicurezza libanese due soldati e due militanti islamici hanno perduto la vita, mentre undici persone risultano ferite. A Sidone sono state chiuse le scuole e la vita della città si svolge al rallentatore. Intanto, continuano gli scontri, sproradici anche a Nahr el Bared, a Tripoli, tra l'esercito libanese e miliziani di Fatah al Islam, barricati all'interno del campo profughi.