Lebanese troops fire on refugees

Lebanese troops kill three Palestinian protesters
29 Jun 2007 14:38:13 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Nazih Siddiq

BEDDAWI, Lebanon, June 29 (Reuters) - Lebanese troops fired
at Palestinian civilians demanding to return to their homes at a
besieged refugee camp on Friday, killing three protesters and
wounding 50, witnesses and hospital sources said.

The witnesses said the soldiers opened fire first into the air as
hundreds of refugees, including women and children, tried to
storm through an army checkpoint and head to Nahr al-Bared
camp, scene of nearly six weeks of intense fighting between
the army and the al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants.

When the crowd did not disperse and attacked soldiers with
stones and sticks, the troops fired automatic rifles at the
protest inflicting the casualties, who were rushed to a
hospital in Beddawi and another in the northern port city of
Tripoli.

The incident will likely increase tensions at Lebanon's 11 other
Palestinian refugee camps -- already close to boiling point over
fighting in north Lebanon that has killed 204 people.

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