Shelling continues at Nahr el-Bared, wounded soldier evacuated

(26 Jul 2007) SHOTLIST 1. Wide pan of shelling on camp, smoke rising 2. Mid of destruction and black smoke rising behind 3. Thick smoke rising from camp 4. Wide of smoke rising during shelling AUDIO: shelling 5. Lebanese army armoured personnel carrier (APC) driving into camp 6. Mid of white smoke rising from camp AUDIO: gunfire 7. Wide of smoke over camp 8. Lebanese army APC passing 9. Long shot of injured soldier being attended to by medics 10. Wide of ambulance driving near camp AUDIO: siren 11. Various of smoke rising over camp 14. Lebanese army soldiers on top of APC 15. Wide of APC's driving along road 16. Wide of smoke rising over camp STORYLINE Lebanese army troops unleashed barrages of artillery and tank shells on Thursday, at Islamic militants in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The army action at Nahr el-Bared follows intense shelling on Wednesday, and days of low intensity fighting during which soldiers continued to push their way deeper into the camp, seizing weapons and other military equipment from tunnels dug by the Fatah Islam militants. AP Television News pictures on Thursday, showed an injured Lebanese soldier being evacuated. Throughout last week, the army used loudspeakers to urge militants to surrender or allow their families to leave the camp, but they have vowed to fight to the death. The gunmen have recently been firing Katyusha rockets on nearby villages on an almost daily basis in what appears to be a new tactic to ease the army's pressure. A Lebanese teenager was killed and a young girl was injured last week in the rocket attacks. Fatah Islam spokesman Abu Salim Taha has also warned they would send suicide bombers against the army if it continued its offensive. The conflict with the militants 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 been killed in the fighting, according to the Lebanese government and UN relief officials. Meanwhile, Lebanon's top military magistrate, Rashid Mezher, issued formal arrest warrants against five Fatah Islam militants after charging them with involvement in terrorist acts and possession and use of weapons and explosives, court officials said on Wednesday. The five, whose nationalities were not disclosed, are already in police custody, but the warrants help justify their continued detention. The exact number of Fatah Islam militants arrested since the group clashed with the army has not been disclosed. But Defence Minister Elias Murr said last month that about 40 militants, including some suspected of links with al-Qaida, had been arrested. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...