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Lebanese Rout Militants in Camp
Months of fighting leaves refugee camp in ruins
By Peter Fearon
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Posted Sep 3, 07 3:30 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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Jubilant Lebanese celebrated with soldiers yesterday after they finally wrested control of a besieged Palestinian refugee camp from an al-Qaeda ally, Fatah al-Islam. Lebanese special forces attacked strongholds that remained inside the ruins of the Nahr al-Bared camp near Tripoli after nearly three months of fighting, reports the London Times.
The battle to oust the militants of Fatah al-Islam, said to be backed by Syria, has boosted the image of the army in Lebanon, the one state institution not paralyzed by factionalism. It was a hard-fought battle. "They are good fighters," a Lebanese soldier said of the militants. "Most of them have fought in Iraq,”