2007 Lebanon conflict

The 2007 North Lebanon conflict began when fighting broke out between Fatah al-Islam, a Palestinian militant organization, and the Lebanese Armed Forces on May 20, 2007 in Nahr al-Bared, a refugee camp near Tripoli, Lebanon. It is the worst internal fighting since Lebanon's 1975–90 civil war.

2007 North Lebanon conflict
Locations of the fighting
Date May 20, 2007 – present Location Nahr al-Bared and Tripoli, Lebanon Result Ongoing
Belligerents
Lebanese Armed Forces	Fatah al-Islam
Commanders and leaders
Michel Sulaiman	Shaker al-Abssi
Strength
1,000	~200
Casualties and losses
32 killed, 55 wounded	21 killed
Civilian casualties: 27 killed
Casualties source: Al Jazeera

Background

Nahr al-Bared refugee camp

Main article: Nahr al-Bared

Lebanon is home to more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees, including many who left the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Many refugees were naturalized and integrated into Lebanese society while others settled into camps. Most of the residents of the camps today are descendants of these early Palestinian refugees.

The Nahr al-Bared camp is situated 16 km north of Tripoli near the coastal road and has been under scrutiny since February, when two buses were bombed in Ain Alak, a predominantly Christian village near Bikfaya. Fatah al-Islam militants based in the camp were blamed. About 30,000 displaced Palestinians live in the camp, which the military is banned from entering under a 38-year-old deal.

Fatah al-Islam

Main article: Fatah al-Islam

The Islamist Fatah al-Islam group is alleged to have links with al-Qaeda. Lebanese pro-Western government officials also believe it has ties to Syrian intelligence.

Fighting

May 20: Start of the fighting in Tripoli and Nahr al-Bared

Fighting began early on Sunday after a police raid on a house in Tripoli which was apparently being used by militants from Fatah al-Islam. The militant group subsequently began shooting at the Lebanese security forces who returned fire, triggering clashes in the vicinity of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli. The men reportedly resisted arrest and the violence spread to neighbouring streets. The police and the army had conducted the raid after allegations that Fatah al-Islam members tried to rob a bank on Sunday and "take control of several security strongholds in the North" according to Ahmad Fatfat, Lebanese Minister of Youth and Sports in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet. [1] Militants then attacked a Lebanese military post at the gate of the camp, seizing several vehicles. The Lebanese military sent reinforcements, including tanks, which returned fire at Fatah al-Islam positions.

May 21: Nahr al-Bared under siege

On May 21, 2007 fighting renewed after a short-lived truce earlier in the day was declared in order to transport the dead and injured out of the camp in ambulances. According to the Lebanese news channel NewTV, allegations arose that Fatah al-Islam militiamen had been shooting at ambulances entering and exiting the camps. The Lebanese Army started shelling the Nahr al-Bared camp at what it believed to be Fatah al-Islam positions; many civilians were killed.

U.N. Relief and Works Agency officials said that U.N. staffers were among the wounded. Aid agencies were feeling the pressure and were unable to properly provide medical services to the injured and count all the casualties. Agencies attempted to get a cease-fire in place in order to get food and medical supplies delivered to the refugee camp.

May 22: The fighting continues at Nahr al-Bared, ceasefire

Despite talks of a cease-fire, Fatah al-Islam militants continued battling the Lebanese army at the outskirts of the refugee camp for a third day. Fighting resumed when Lebanese tanks and artillery began shelling the members of the radical Fatah al-Islam group taking refuge in the camp. By mid-morning the battle intensified with heavy exchanges of small arms and machine-gun fire. [2] Conditions inside the overcrowded Nahr al-Bared camp are becoming increasingly unbearable as the army continues pounding militant positions there. Doctors in the camp have pleaded for a ceasefire because of the dead and wounded lying on the streets. Electricity has been cut and there is a limited supply of water. Brig. Gen. Bilal Aslam has said that "the Lebanese Army prevented supplies and aid from entering the camp." He also claimed militant fighters were stationed on the outskirts of the camp, but not in it. [3]

The militant group said it would end confrontations with the Lebanese army starting 14.30 local time. [4] A fragile truce let 10 people flee Nahr al-Bared. [5] In Tripoli, one Fatah al-Islam militant blew himself up, injuring no one else after the building in which he was hiding was surrounded by Lebanese soldiers. [6]

May 23: Thousands flee Nahr al-Bared

During a nighttime truce announced Tuesday, about 2,000 inhabitants of the Nahr al-Bared camp have been able to flee. Some refugees left on foot while others were in cars and vans. The Red Crescent has helped the refugees relocate to the nearby Beddawi camp, where they will spend the night at schools. Other refugees left for the nearby city of Tripoli. Reports suggest that snipers fired at the fleeing crowd of refugees as they left their homes. [7] The truce seemed to have ended when a UN aid convoy was attacked later that night. "The humanitarian situation is very, very bad," said a spokeswoman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, "and deteriorating every minute. Inside the camp, there are no hospitals and only one health center," which were unable to stay open during the fighting. [8]

Bombings in Beirut

Fatah al-Islam claimed responsibility for two bombings that took place in Beirut. The first occurred shortly after midnight on May 21, killing a woman near the ABC shopping mall in Beirut's largely Christian eastern district of Ashrafieh. At least 10 people were hurt in the blast. [9]

On the same day, at approximately 11 PM local time in Beirut, a second large explosion was heard in the mainly Muslim district of Verdun, located in a shopping area. [10] At least seven people were wounded and the neighbouring buildings were severely damaged. [11] A third bombing, in a Christian neighborhood northeast of Beirut called Mansouriyeh, was foiled when authorities caught a Palestinian and an Egyptian carrying a bag full of explosives.

On May 23, a bomb went off near the main government building in Aley, east of Beirut. [12]

Reactions

• Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's prime minister, accused Fatah al-Islam of trying to destabilise the country. Lebanese Interior Minister Hasan al-Sabaa described Fatah al-Islam as "part of the Syrian intelligence-security apparatus." Lebanon's national police commander, Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, dismissed any purported al-Qaeda connection, saying Fatah al-Islam was controlled by Damascus. Lebanese Christian leader Samir Geagea said that Fatah al-Islam is an offshoot of Syrian intelligence and its terrorist activities must end. Nayla Mouawad, Lebanese social affairs minister, said the militants have "Syrian allegiance and only take orders from Syria." [13] Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade, Sami Haddad, told the BBC his government suspected Syria of masterminding the violence. [14] Haddad also asked for money and resources to help Lebanese forces battling the militants. "I take this opportunity to ask our friends all over the world -- Arab governments and friendly Western governments -- to help us both logistically and with military equipment," he declared. [15] The Lebanese Cabinet declared its "full support" for military efforts to end the fighting, said Mohamed Chatah, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "Lebanese security forces are targeting militants and are not randomly shooting into the refugee camp," Chatah said. [16]The living conditions at the camp are partly to blame for the rise of Fatah al-Islam, according to Khalil Makkawi, a former Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations. [17] Lebanese President Emile Lahoud called on all Lebanese to unite around the army. [18]
• Minutes after the violence erupted, Syria temporarily closed two border crossings with northern Lebanon because of security concerns. Syrian leaders deny fomenting violence in Lebanon. [19] Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, has denied his country had any links to the group, and said some of them had been in jail in Syria for their support of al-Qaeda. [20]
• A Fatah al-Islam spokesman, Abu Salim, told Al-Jazeera television that the group was only defending itself. "We were forced and compelled to be in this confrontation with the Lebanese army," Abu Salim said in an interview on Arabic language network Al-Jazeera. [21] Fatah al-Islam's leader, Shaker al-Abssi, told Al-Arabiya TV in June that his group had no connection to al-Qaeda or Syria. He said, his group seeks to reform Palestinian refugee camps in accordance with Islamic law, or Sharia. [22]
• U.S. President George W. Bush said the Islamists needed to be stopped. "Extremists that are trying to topple that young democracy need to be reined in," he said. [23] The U.S. State Department dismissed any links between this week's violence and efforts to establish the international tribunal to try suspects for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. [24]
• The Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian factions' union delegation to the Grand Serail stressed Palestinians should shoulder responsibility of the improvised action by Fatah al-Islam. The delegation comprised representatives from Hamas, The Democratic Front, Sa'iqa, Nidal Front, Islamic Jihad, Fatah al-Intifada, Palestinian Liberation Front and Abbas Zaki, the representative of the executive committee of the PLO. [25]

See also

• Siege of Beirut
• War of the camps
• 2006–2007 Lebanese political protests

External links

• In pictures: Lebanon battles on 20 May (BBC)
• In pictures: Lebanon refugees flee 23 May (BBC)
• A new face of Al Qaeda emerges in Lebanon