Lebanon's defense minister announced Thursday that the country's forces had defeated Palestinian terrorists in a town near Tripoli. Fighting was renewed Saturday, and the terror chiefs remain at large.
"The Lebanese army has crushed those terrorists, the operation is over and all that is left is mopping up and diffusing bombs," said Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr Thursday. “The army destroyed all of Fatah al-Islam’s positions…but the camp will remain surrounded until the remaining [Fatah al-Islam terrorists] surrender.”
The statement was followed by renewed fighting and several bombings Saturday. Four Lebanese soldiers were killed in a bombing, and a fifth soldier was killed by a sniper in Naher al-Bared.
Overall, 79 Lebanese soldiers were killed and 150 wounded in the battles that began on May 20. Sixty terrorists and 20 civilians were killed in the fighting.
The commanders of Fatah al-Islam remain at large.