SIDON: One person was killed and several others wounded in overnight clashes in south Lebanon’s restive Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, a Palestinian official said Thursday.
The clashes pitted members of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement against Islamist groups in the camp, located near the coastal city of Sidon, said senior Fatah official Mounir Makdah.
“One person was killed and seven wounded,” he told AFP, adding that “all Palestinian forces are working to put an end” to the violence.
Clashes between rival groups are common in Ain Al-Helweh, which is home to more than 54,000 registered Palestinian refugees who have been joined in recent years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Syria.
An AFP correspondent said shooting had mostly subsided around dawn but that sporadic gunfire could still be heard later in the morning.
The situation remained tense and armed men deployed to the streets of the camp, while schools run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, were closed.
By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, leaving the factions themselves to handle security.
That has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain Al-Helweh has gained notoriety as a refuge for extremists and fugitives.
More than 450,000 Palestinians are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon.
Most live in one of 12 official refugee camps, often in squalid conditions, and face a variety of legal restrictions, including on their employment.
Clashes kill one in Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp: Fatah
https://arab.news/gh422
Clashes kill one in Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp: Fatah
- Clashes between rival groups are common in Ain Al-Helweh
Three vessels hit by projectiles in Strait of Hormuz
- A projectile hit a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze
DUBAI: Three vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security agencies and sources said on Wednesday.
One of the strikes led to a fire onboard a ship and forced most of its crew to evacuate it.
The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was targeted and damaged approximately 11 nautical miles north of Oman, two maritime security sources cited by Reuters have said.
The fire had been extinguished and that there was no environmental impact, a report by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said later, referring to the incident. Necessary crew remained on the vessel.
Earlier, a container ship and a bulk carrier were hit off the coast of the UAE by unknown projectiles, UKMTO also said.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery accounting for about 20% of global oil and gas supply, has dropped rapidly since the Iran conflict began on February 28.
The latest incidents increase the number of ships that have been attacked since the conflict began to at least 14.
(with Reuters)
