Clashes continue for 3rd consecutive day in Lebanon’s Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp
April 9, 2017 12:41 P.M. (Updated: April 9, 2017 3:54 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=776345
LEBANON (Ma’an) — Armed clashes in Lebanon’s Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp continued to rage on as of Sunday morning, having left at least five dead and dozens more injured since Friday.
Lebanese news sites reported that after a new joint Palestinian force deployed in the camp, Islamist militants led by Bilal Badr — who has alleged links to al-Qaeda and lives in the camp’s al-Tira neighborhood — attacked members of the new security force with live fire and shelling, sparking clashes.
Badr and his followers are among non-Palestinian militants who reside in the Palestinian refugee camp, which also include Lebanese fugitives wanted by Lebanese security forces, that PLO factions have long sought to expel from the camp.
As of Saturday morning, one member of the joint Palestinian forces and a member of the Fatah were declared dead, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
Clashes caused a major fire Saturday night, resulting in the injury of at least one person.
The joint Palestinian force advanced further into al-Tira on Sunday morning, with NNA reporting as of Sunday afternoon that five had been killed and 37 other injured. It remained unclear whether the five were in addition to the two individuals declared dead Saturday, or if five men had been killed in total during the three-day period.