LOC11:17
08:17 GMT
BEIRUT, July 10 (KUNA) -- Lebanese Army troops are expected to launch an
all-out decisive battle against armed militants holed up in a refugee camp in
northern Lebanon in 48 hours, according to a daily newspaper.
"Ad-Diyar" reported on Tuesday that the army planned a three-pronged final
assault on Nahr Al-Bared camp to crush hideouts of Fatah Al-Islam group "and
wipe out this phenomenon."
Army artillerymen have already started intensive bombardment of the
gunmen's strongholds to pave way for the expected showdown, it said.
The army has been engaged in fighting against Shaker Al-Absi's militia
since May 20. Some 150 people have been killed since flare-up of the fighting.
Al-Absi is reportedly a former inmate in Jordan and an advocate of hardline
thoughts identical to those adopted by Al-Qaeda.
The beachfront Nahr Al-Bared camp is located north of the city of Tripoli,
some 90 kilometers north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. (end)
oh.rk
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