The fighting started at dawn after security forces raided the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in Tripoli to arrest suspects in a bank robbery. Militants, said to belong to the radical Palestinian faction of Fatah al-Islam, then attacked army posts at the refugee camp.
The military sent reenforcement, which returned fire at alleged Fatah al-Islam positions, to the camp in a bid to retake positions seized by the militants.
The fighting is still going on, according to Arabia TV station, which quoted the army as saying that so far 28 people, including13 Lebanese soldiers, had been killed.
The fighting, which involved tank and grenade firearm, also injured some civilians, including children, who were now trapped inside the camp, said the TV report.
Earlier reports said 11 soldiers and three militants were killed and 12 militants were arrested.
On Saturday, four masked gunman robbed a bank in the northern town of Amioun and made off with 125,000 U.S. dollars in cash and the police were looking for suspects.
The Nahr el-Bared camp has been under scrutiny since two bus bombings in a Christian area in northern of Beirut in February. Police had arrested a number of members of the Islamic faction based in the camp in connection with the twin bus bombings, which killed and wounded at least 20 people.
Some 30,000 Palestinians live in the camp, which the military is banned from entering under a 38-year-old deal.
A Fatah al-Islam spokesman, Abu Salim, told pan-Arab satellite TV al-Jazeera that the group was only defending itself.
The Islamist group is alleged to have links with al-Qaida and Lebanese officials also believe it has ties to Syrian intelligence. Sunday's gun battle was the worst fighting in Lebanon's second-largest city in more than two decades, security officials said.
Shortly after the outbreak of the fight, Premier Fouad Senior described the assault on the army as a crime against national stability.
Source : news.xinhuanet.com
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