Palestinians Rout Shia Militiamen; 40 Die Near Sidon
Palestinian guerrillas surged out of their refugee camps near Sidon before dawn Monday behind a heavy rocket barrage and dislodged Shia Muslim militiamen from positions in the hills above.
Police said at least 40 people were killed and 85 wounded in the battle for the Shias’ key positions around the hill town of Maghdousheh.
It was one of the bloodiest battles between Palestinians and the Shias’ Amal militia in 18 months of intermittent war for control of the refugee camps in Beirut and Sidon.
Authorities in Sidon, the ancient southern port that is Lebanon’s third-largest city, said Amal militiamen had been shelling the refugee camps from the hills but fled when Palestinians swept into the town.
It was the second Palestinian offensive in a month in south Lebanon. Amal has been fighting guerrillas in the camps to keep Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat from re-establishing the Lebanese base that he lost when the Israelis invaded in June, 1982.
The Maghdousheh casualties raised the toll in PLO-Amal fighting around Sidon to 66 dead and 148 wounded since Friday.
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