Report: Extremists in Ain el-Hilweh Refrained from Attacking Army during Tripoli Clashes

Terrorists in the southern Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp aimed at launching attacks at the Lebanese army simultaneously with the gunbattles that erupted at the northern coastal city of Tripoli, Ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Sunday.

According to the daily, suspected armed men, residing in the al-Tawaree neighborhood in the Palestinian refugee camp, aimed at creating confusion among the army ranks and to expand the battle with the military to include South Lebanon.

Sources told the newspaper that members affiliated to the militant groups Jund al-Sham and Fatah al-Islam wanted to engage in armed battles with the army but refrained after Osbat al-Ansar movement and Fatah Movement controlled the security situation at the refugee camp.

Sources said that a “strong rhetoric message was conveyed to extremist armed wings in Ain el-Hilweh camp, stressing that all Palestinian factions will prevent any side from involving the camp in a war that the Palestinians are better off without.”

The Lebanese army has been carrying out large-scale raids since last week in Tripoli and the region of Koura in search for suspects after a fierce gunbattle with extremists in the Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Some of the gunmen were detained while others fled.

The battle between the Lebanese army and extremists in northern Lebanon was widely expected after members of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, launched several attacks over the past weeks in areas on the border with Syria.

Lebanese troops have been subjected to a wave of attacks over the past months.