Lebanese tanks shell Palestinian camp near Tripoli

Associated Press reports that hundreds of Lebanese applauded the Lebanese army as its tanks shelled the Palestinian Nahr el-Bared camp near Tripoli on Sunday.”We strongly back the Lebanese army troops and what they are doing,” said Abed Attar, a resident of Tripoli who stood watching the tanks fire into the camp while others cheered.Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said the fighting was a “dangerous attempt at hitting Lebanese security” and called on the Lebanese to rally behind the government.

Residents greet Lebanese army troops after clashes with militants of Fatah al-Islam group in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, May 20, 2007. (Omar Ibrahim/Reuters)

AFP – Mon May 21, 12:15 AM ET
Lebanese soldiers take positions during clashes with the Palestinian ‘Fatah al-Islam’ group in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli

Reuters – Sun May 20, 10:21 PM ET A Lebanese soldier fires shots

Smoke rises from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon May 20, 2007.
Beirut’s Daily Star reports hundreds of area residents took to the streets, chanting “God be with you, Lebanese Army” and cheering as tanks released a steady barrage of shells on the Palestinian camp. Some residents said they were willing to fight along with the army. “We have arms, and we will use them to fight alongside with the army whenever our leader tell us to do so,” said Ali Dahban, 45, referring to Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri.Mouhamra is known as a bastion of heavy Future Movement support in the area. A constant stream of troops and heavy equipment could be seen heading to North Lebanon on Sunday afternoon. Extra army checkpoints were set up along the main roads into Tripoli and Nahr al-Bared.Army tanks shelled the camp throughout the day after militants from Fatah al-Islam took control of army posts at the camp’s entrance. The camp’s electricity, phone lines and water were cut off.

CNN has a VIDEO of the gunfire between the Lebanese army and Palestinian Fatah al-Islam

CNN reports that ten militants were killed in the building in Tripoli and seven in the refugee camp, security officials said. They said 22 soldiers had also been killed.

In Beirut Sunday, a car bomb exploded in the Christian sector causing some injuries, witnesses and TV stations reported.The major Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. television said the explosion occurred in Ashrafieh, the Christian sector of the Lebanese capital, near a major shopping center shortly before midnight.An Nahar reports the explosion killed an elderly woman and wounded 11 other people, police said.Sunday’s explosion, the fourth in Ashrafiyeh in the last two years, also came as the U.N. Security Council is considering a draft resolution to impose the international tribunal in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri after the pro-Syrian opposition led by Hizbullah failed to agree on approving it in Beirut. A U.N. investigation into the 2005 assassination also has been expanded to include the series of bombings anti-Syrian groups blame on Syria.Unconfirmed Lebanese security reports also have alleged that members of Fatah al-Islam were sent by Damascus to destabilize Lebanon following Syria’s forced withdrawal from the country in April 2005.Lebanese security officials said one of the militants killed in clashes with the Lebanese army was a suspect in a failed German train bombing attempt.

UNSC Res 1559 and 1701 requires all armed militias including Hezbollah in Lebanon to disband

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This reminds me of events around 17 September 1970 when the Jordanian army (the 60th armored brigade)launched a full scale attack against the headquarters of the Palestinian Fatah in Amman ,Irbid, Salt, Sweileh and Zarqa,using tanks and artillery,killing between 7,000 to 8,000 Palestinians.

The background was on September 1, 1970, when several attempts to assassinate the King Hussein failed. On September 6, in the series of Dawson’s Field hijackings, three planes were hijacked by PFLP: a SwissAir and a TWA in Zarqa and a BOAC in Cairo, on September 9, a British Airways plane at Amman, the passengers were held hostage.. After all hostages were removed, the planes were demonstratively blown up in front of TV cameras. Directly confronting and angering the King, the rebels declared Irbid area a “liberated region”.Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 with the expulsion of the PLO

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