The Lebanese army resumed its air raids and shelling of islamist gunmen holed up at Nahr al-Bared on Saturday after evacuating the last remaining civilians from the battered refugee camp. Helicopters carried out repeated raids dropping 250- and 400-kilogram bombs on the small area still controlled by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam members while tanks shelled the camp, AFP reported.
"Pressure on the militants will be maintained until they heed our call to surrender," an army spokesman said. According to him, information gathered from the 63 women and children who were evacuated from the camp on Friday could help the army in its final assault on the militants.
The group of civilians, including the wife and children of Fatah al-Islam chief Shaker al-Abssi, were handed over to their families overnight after questioning by the army, a cleric told AFP. "The process of handing over the group of 63 women and children to their families began overnight," Sheikh Mohammed Hajj, spokesman for a group of Palestinian clerics, said.
Two of the children evacuated were hospitalized after leaving the camp and three women were injured, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
Their evacuation on Friday opened the way for a final assault by the army on the remaining militants. The Lebanese army chief of staff, General Michel Suleiman, told reporters on Friday after the civilians were evacuated that "the end of military operations is nearing."
