UN Convoy Attacked: Lebanon

[Christina]

UN aid convoy attacked in Lebanon--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST May. 22, 2007 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------A convoy of UN relief supplies was hit in renewed fighting as it attempted to enter the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared on Tuesday, and there are possible casualties, a relief official said. The official from the UN Relief and Works Agency said a pickup truck and a water tanker were caught between the lines of the Lebanese army and the militant Fatah Islam fighters and hit as they entered the camp. "There may have been some casualties, at least one," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. "We could not distribute everything," he told AP on the telephone from the entrance of the camp. He could not say which side the fire came from. The attack occurred after a new attempt at cease-fire in the fierce battle at a Palestinian refugee camp fell apart Tuesday. It was the third such truce attempt to collapse in the three days of fighting at the Nahr el-Cared camp outside the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, where the Lebanese military is trying to crush Fatah Islam, a militant group suspected of al-Qaida ties. After a morning barrage, fighting stopped at around 2:30 p.m. after Fatah Islam announced it would stop firing. The halt was "an initiative from us in an attempt to stop the bloodshed of children and elderly. If the Lebanese army abide by it, it will hold," Abu Salim Taha, a spokesman for Fatah Islam, told the Associated Press by mobile phone from inside the camp. The Lebanese military has said it will not be the first to open fire, but refused to commit to a formal cease-fire. Less than an hour later, heavy exchanges of fire and several explosions were heard. The resumption of fighting will also likely prevent six trucks for the UN Relief and Works Agency from entering the camp with relief supplies. It was not immediately known which side resumed firing first. Nearly 50 combatants have been confirmed killed in the fighting, but civilian casualties are not known because relief workers and officials have had limited access into the camp. But relief workers have said they have reports of dozens of houses crushed by bombardment with residents buried inside. The trouble threatened to spread to other refugee camps. Dozens of angry Palestinians burned car tires in the southern camp of Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest. Protesters also burned tires in Rashidiyeh camp in the south.