Lebanese Assault on Refugee Camp Intensifies

Lebanon is denying that its latest round of strikes on a Palestinian refugee camp constitute the final showdown with militants holed up inside, the AP reports. Militants in the densely packed warren of buildings exchanged heavy fire with the army encircling them today and shot nine rockets into nearby villages, orange groves and vineyards.

The battle, which began on May 20, forced nearly all of the 30,000 refugees to flee the camp. The Lebanese army declared victory in late June, but the Fatah Islam fighters re-grouped. Nearly 100 soldiers, 60 militants and 20 refugees have died in Lebanon’s worst internal bloodshed since its decades-old civil war. (More refugee camp stories.)