The Lebanese army has started evacuating families of the Islamist militants who have been fighting troops at a Palestinian refugee camp, a military source said today.
Lebanese soldiers stand amid the rubble of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in North Lebanon. Image: Reuters.
The militants and their families have been holed up at the Nahr al-Bared camp since the conflict began on May 20th. The fighting has killed nearly 300 people - the worst internal violence since Lebanon's civil war ended 17 years ago.
The camp has been almost destroyed by tank, artillery and helicopter fire from the army, which is trying to force the al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam group to surrender.
Lebanese security sources said there were no more than 30 active fighters left in the camp, suggesting the evacuation could be a precursor for the group to surrender.
Security sources said the army had taken charge of the family group and had put them on buses to take them out of the camp. Twenty-two women and 41 children were to leave the camp.
Ambulances of the Palestinian Red Crescent and the International Committee for the Red Cross ambulances stood by.
Most of the camp's 40,000 residents fled to a nearby Palestinian refugee camp in the first days of fighting.
Fatah al-Islam split from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction last year. It says it shares al-Qaeda's ideology but has no organisational ties to Osama bin Laden's network.