Heavy fighting in Lebanon refugee camp

Nahr Al Bared: Heavy fighting erupted on Tuesday between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants at a Palestinian camp which has been the battleground for Lebanon's bloodiest internal violence since the civil war.

A military source described the fighting as heavier than usual at the Nahr Al Bared camp, where the army's battle with the Al Qaida-inspired militants of Fatah Al Islam is now in its fourth week.

At least 136 people, including 60 soldiers, have been killed in the fighting, the worst since the 1975-1990 civil war. Eleven soldiers died and more than 100 were wounded in battles at the weekend alone.

The army is battling Fatah Al Islam militants on the outskirts of the camp, home to 40,000 before the fighting forced thousands to flee, mostly to a nearby refugee camp.

Relief workers have been struggling to evacuate civilians still trapped inside the camp. Two Lebanese Red Cross volunteers were killed in the fighting on Monday. Their funerals are later on Tuesday.

The fighting has further undermined stability in Lebanon, already paralysed by a seven-month-old political crisis.