By NNN-Xinhua
Beirut : The Lebanese army on Saturday destroyed a large number of the hideouts of the remaining Fatah al-Islam militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, continuing its hold on the militants.
Battles between the soldiers and the militia were now taking place from street to street and were most intense in the southwestern and northwestern areas of the Nahr al-Bared camp, the official National News Agency reported.
The army was making considerable progress and many militants were killed in the clashes, said the report, adding that soldiers were now fortifying locations they controlled and de-mining buildings in the camp.
The Lebanese army have been battling with the militants of Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared camp, some 12 km north of Tripoli, since May 20. The bloodiest internal violence since the Lebanese 1975-1990 civil war has killed more than 200 people.
The army has refused to halt its military offensive before the militants surrender, but the gunmen have vowed to fight to the death.
The Lebanese government lists Fatah al-Islam as a terrorist network aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.