4 Lebanese soldiers die in fighting at camp

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Something about this story really bothers me. To summarize, after 2.5 months of fighting between the Lebanese Army and some stateless guerillas, we have 128 dead Army soldiers, 60 dead "militants" and 20 dead civilians, with no idea when it might end. Something is not right here ...

BEIRUT — Four Lebanese soldiers have been killed in heavy fighting with militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a senior military official said Thursday.

The soldiers were killed by snipers and while dismantling booby traps and mines planted by Fatah al Islam fighters in the Nahr el Bared camp, he said. Two died Thursday and two died a day earlier.

The deaths brought to 128 the number of troops killed since fighting erupted May 20, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

In addition to the soldiers' deaths, an undetermined number of militants — at least 60 — and more than 20 civilians have died in the fighting, Lebanese and U.N. relief officials say.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-lebanon3aug03,1,3700220.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true

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1. Soldiers killed at Lebanon camp

The Lebanese army has announced that two more soldiers have died in fighting with the Fatah al-Islam group in the northern Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

The army said one soldier was killed on Wednesday and another had died on Tuesday "while carrying out their military duty" at the camp.

The soldier's deaths raised to 136 the number of troops who have died since fighting between the army and Fatah al-Islam erupted on May 20.

The standoff at the camp has dragged on to become Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975 to 1990 civil war.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F2BD788D-2CAC-403F-9013-9369B7AF6425.htm