BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Lebanese soldier was killed by sniper fire from inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon amid signs the army was preparing to launch a major assault on the camp where they battled Islamic militants for weeks. The soldier's death came after Fatah Islam fighters hiding inside the Nahr el-Bared camp rejected repeated calls to surrender.
Witnesses said the army was bringing in heavy reinforcements to the area of the camp near the northern port city of Tripoli, suggesting a fresh assault was imminent.
Also on Wednesday, three ambulances belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent society entered the besieged camp to evacuate civilians still trapped inside who wished to leave. The mainstream Palestinian Fatah movement was reported calling on its guerrillas inside the camp to leave as well.
Fighting between Fatah Islam and the Lebanese army erupted on May 20. Lebanon's defense minister announced on June 21 that the al Qaeda-inspired militants have been defeated and declared major combat over after soldiers seized militant positions on the edges of the camp.
However, Fatah Islam fighters fled deeper into the camp and continue to engage the army in firefights daily. They have repeatedly ignored calls from the army to surrender, and all mediation efforts to end the military standoff have failed.
The battle to drive the Islamic militants out has led to significant damage to parts of the camp, once home to some 30,000 Palestinian refugees. Only a few thousand remain inside, after most residents fled to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp.
A senior military official said the Lebanese soldier was killed late Tuesday near the Nahr el-Bared camp by Fatah Islam snipers inside the settlement.
His death brought to 86 the number of Lebanese soldiers who have been killed since the fighting erupted, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.
Fatah Islam group is believed to be made up of mostly foreign Sunni Muslim fighters, and Lebanon's Western-backed government has accused the group of trying, with Syria's backing, to launch a rebellion in the north of the country and destabilize Lebanon. Syria denies the allegations and has described Fatah Islam as a dangerous terrorist organization.
The fighting at the Palestinian refugee camp has become the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, and is believed to have killed more than 162 people, including 84 soldiers, at least 60 militants and more than 20 civilians.
