Two people were killed on Saturday in clashes between members of the Fatah faction and Sunni Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon, camp officials said. One man was shot while trying to intervene to halt the clash at Ein al-Hilweh camp between Fatah and Jund al-Sham, a small al Qaeda-inspired Islamist group. The second dead man was a member of the group.
Another Jund al-Sham fighter was seriously wounded in the fighting at the camp, which is near the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon.
Earlier on Saturday, gunmen from both sides fired machineguns and rocket- propelled grenades, Palestinian sources said. Rival fighters exchanged fire for almost two hours on the main street of the densely-populated camp outside the southern port city of Sidon, a Palestinian official added. Gunshots were subsequently heard in the city of Sidon itself, with a Fatah leader saying that one person from the movement was killed. Sunni Islamist groups have substantial influence in the camp, which is off limits to Lebanese security forces.
| Thanks to the Saoodis for the influence, and thanks to the goofy UN for the rules. |
Jund al-Sham's name refers to the ancient Islamic term of Bilad al-Sham, a region which covers Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Its members are mostly Lebanese, many of whom fought against the army during an Islamist rebellion that broke out on New Year's Eve in 1999 in the predominantly Sunni area of Dinnieh in north Lebanon and left 45 people dead.
The Sunni group also includes Palestinians, mostly dissidents of the fundamentalist Usbat al-Ansar (Band of Supporters) which was outlawed by Lebanese authorities in 1995 for murdering a rival cleric. Jund al-Sham, which has no clear hierarchy or particular leader, is believed to have about 50 militants armed with assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.