Lebanese forces report killing 8 militants in camp

Lebanese troops stormed an Islamic militant hide-out in a Palestinian refugee camp Saturday, killing eight fighters, state-run media reported. A Lebanese army commander said a final assault to crush the remaining Fatah al Islam fighters was near.

The army pounded Fatah al Islam’s positions with artillery, tank fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the National News Agency and witnesses said. The five-hour bombardment created plumes of heavy black smoke above the Nahr el Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, witnesses reported.

“An army commando unit stormed the Amqa neighborhood and, during the limited clash that ensued, all eight terrorists who were there were killed,” the NNA said.

The military command Saturday renewed calls for the militants to allow their families to leave the camp.

The conflict in Nahr el Bared is Lebanon’s worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war. An undetermined number of militants -- at least 60 -- and more than 20 civilians have died in the fighting, according to Lebanese government and U.N. relief officials. More than 120 troops have been killed since fighting erupted May 20.

Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman vowed to end the battle soon. “The final assault in Nahr el Bared is imminent,” he told his troops.

The army refuses to halt before the militants fully surrender, but the gunmen have vowed to fight to the death.

Also Saturday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that Lebanon could face a new civil war if its feuding leaders failed to resolve the political crisis.

Kouchner is holding talks with various rival factions.

France, the former colonial ruler, has encouraged dialogue between the Western-backed Lebanese government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, which are locked in a fierce power struggle.

The opposition has held protests since Dec. 1 outside Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s office in Beirut. It wants to force him to resign or share power in a national unity Cabinet that would give the opposition veto power.

Siniora, backed by the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the United States, has rejected the demand.

Rival governments could emerge if parliament fails to elect a new president before Nov. 25.