By Michael Bluhm in the Lebanon Daily Star:
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army killed one Fatah al-Islam militant in the village of Bhannine Friday and captured four more near the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, as troops continued pursuing escaped militants, an army source told The Daily Star.
A handful of fugitive Fatah al-Islam members remained close to the camp in North Lebanon, where the army besieged the militants for more than three months, the source said on condition of anonymity.
“There are a few people from one group still outside,” the source added. “There are not more than four or five.”
The army hoped to make more progress pursuing the escapees by Saturday morning, the source added.
Inside the largely destroyed camp, army sappers continued dismantling booby traps while troops cleared out obstacles keeping the army from examining the militants’ final hideouts, said a second army source, also on condition of anonymity. Soldiers also kept up their search for militants or any weapons or materiel the gunmen had left behind, the source added.
Almost all of the roughly 80 militants who remained last weekend launched three coordinated escape attempts before dawn last Sunday, but the army crushed the last-ditch effort, killing 39 militants and capturing 21. Some militants broke out of the camp, and the army has killed and captured several militants since Monday.