http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6675163.stm

Lebanon vows to crush militants

Lebanese troops fought running battles with the militants
Lebanon's government has vowed to continue its offensive against Fatah Islam, a militant group that killed 23 soldiers in clashes on Sunday.
In all, at least 40 people reportedly died in the violence in the northern city of Tripoli, 15 of them militants.

It was the bloodiest internal fighting seen in Lebanon since the civil war ended 17 years ago.

Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said security forces would continue hunting down cells of the Islamist group.

"There are security procedures underway," he said.

"We had casualties, but we will continue and those cells have also suffered casualties."

Mr Aridi said the militants killed on Sunday included "key leaders who have carried out and have been planning to carry out large attacks".

Fatah Islam is a radical group based near Tripoli in the refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, home to some 30,000 displaced Palestinians.

Its fugitive leader is alleged to have links to al-Qaeda.

'Unprovoked aggression'

Fighting erupted on Sunday morning after security forces raided a building in the northern city of Tripoli to arrest suspects in a bank robbery.

After resisting arrest, militants from Fatah Islam attacked army posts at the entrances to the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp.


Emergency workers evacuated the injured from the blast in Beirut

Several hours later, a large force of Lebanese troops hit back at Fatah Islam, bombarding the camp and storming a building on the outskirts of Tripoli.

Two civilians were killed and 40 were injured, AFP news agency reported. A Lebanese army spokesman said another 27 soldiers were injured.

The Nahr el-Bared camp has been under scrutiny since two bus bombings in a Christian area of Beirut in February, blamed on Fatah Islam militants based in the camp.

At least two civilians were also killed and a further 40 reportedly hurt in the violence.

Fatah Islam spokesmen portrayed the fighting as unprovoked aggression by the Lebanese army.

"The problem began with repeated arrests of our brothers in Tripoli. We've always defended Sunnis in Lebanon," a spokesman called Abu Salim told al-Jazeera TV.


Splinter group

Lebanon is home to more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom fled their homes when Israel was created in 1948.

The military is banned from entering the Nahr el-Bared camp under a 38-year-old deal.

Fatah Islam is a radical Palestinian splinter group alleged to have links with al-Qaeda. Lebanese officials also believe it has ties to Syrian intelligence.

Other Palestinian groups have distanced themselves from Fatah Islam, which emerged last year after splitting from a Syrian-backed Palestinian splinter group, says the BBC's Beirut correspondent Jim Muir.

Beirut blast

Some link the eruption in violence to moves at the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, two years ago, our correspondent says.

Syria is against the tribunal, and Lebanese government officials have accused Damascus of trying to stir up trouble to head it off.

Later on Sunday, a large explosion sent a plume of black smoke above Beirut.

A woman is reported to have died in the blast in the largely Christian eastern district of Ashrafieh. At least 10 people are said to have been hurt.

The cause of the blast is not yet known.