Fresh fighting erupts between Islamist gunmen at Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp

By Euronews

Published on 20/08/2017 - 11:29

Dozens of families have been forced to flee for their lives

At least one person has been killed and several others hurt after renewed fighting between Palestinian security forces and Sunni Islamists at the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.

The violence erupted after militants from the mainstream Palestinian party Fatah attacked a district where the leader of an Islamist faction was believed to be hiding.

The clashes began on Thursday after the head of a faction linked to the Islamist Badr group fired at the headquarters of a joint Palestinian security unit. Scores of families were forced to flee the area.

Members of the joint Palestinian security force during clashes with extremists in Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp, southern #Lebanon (Reuters) pic.twitter.com/rBeklkqol5
— عاصي +2 (@jeanassy) August 18, 2017

Lebanon’s Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours, fall mainly outside the jurisdiction of Lebanese security services.

Comments