Two killed in mounting clashes in refugee camp in Lebanon

Two members of the Palestinian group Fatah were killed in worsening clashes with Islamist groups in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on Wednesday bringing the number of dead to six in nearly a week of fighting.

The clashes at the Ain el-Hilweh camp began late last Thursday (August 17) between Islamist fighters and a joint force comprising the main Palestinian factions, including Fatah, which are responsible for the camp’s security.

Two other Fatah members and two Islamist fighters had already been killed and a total of 15 combatants and civilians have been wounded, a security source said.

The source said clashes had escalated on Wednesday, when gunfire wounded three people, including two Lebanese security personnel, outside the camp.

The fighting was triggered when a leader of an armed faction sympathetic to the Islamist Badr group fired at the headquarters of the joint security force last week.