Willy Gjøsund Libanons forsvarsminister sier hæren har knust opprørsgruppen Fatah al-Islam, som hadde forskanset seg i flyktningleieren Nahr el-Bared.
Fighting in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp outside the northern port of Tripoli will continue until the remnants of the group are flushed out, said Defense Minister Elias Murr.
The fighting in Nahr el-Bared, Lebanon’s worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war, has claimed the lives of more than 150 people, including 75 soldiers, at least 60 militants and more than 20 civilians. It comes amid a fierce power struggle between Lebanon’s government and the opposition led by the militant Hezbollah group.
«The Lebanese army has destroyed all Fatah Islam positions,» Murr declared on the private Lebanese Broadcasting Television. «The army is combing the area. This terrorist organization has been uprooted.»
He said «the military operation is over. The Lebanese army has crushed those terrorists.»
