Palestinian camp: Hundreds of residents of a main Palestinian camp in Lebanon fled on Monday as fighting between mainstream faction Fatah and radical Islamists raged for a third day, residents and security sources said.
The fighting wrecked a ceasefire agreed on Sunday between rival Palestinian groups that included representatives of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group and its ally the Shi’ite Amal movement that holds sway in southern Lebanon.
At least 11 people have been killed and 40 wounded in the clashes that broke out in Ain el-Hilweh camp, near the southern coastal city of Sidon, over the weekend, security and Palestinian sources said.
On Monday, the warring groups fired rocket-propelled grenades at each other in the crowded alleys of the camp. Both sides blamed the other for the breach in the ceasefire.
Palestinian sources say the latest round of fighting on Saturday was triggered by a security clamp-down by Fatah, the main faction in the camp against hardline Islamists who have a foothold there.
The death of a militant led to attacks on Fatah outposts.
Fighting intensified on Sunday after a Fatah commander was killed in an ambush set up by militants and where three of his companions later died from wounds in what was seen as a reprisal for the Islamist militant’s death the day before.
