Ain el-Hilweh Tense after Overnight Gunbattles
Tension surged overnight in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon after gunbattles between Fatah movement and Jund al-Sham, the state-run National News Agency reported on Friday.
The news agency reported that members of the Palestinian security committee swiftly acted to prevent any escalations and to return calm in the camp.
According to LBCI, the gunbattles occurred inside Ain el-Hilweh's al-Taware' neighborhood between supporters of Haitham al-Shaabi and Fatah movement, only causing material damage.
Al-Shaabi, a previous leader in Jond al-Sham, is said to have ties with the Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades .
Ain el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in the country, is home to about 50,000 refugees and is known to harbor extremists and fugitives.
By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the country's 12 refugee camps, leaving security inside to the Palestinians themselves.
On Thursday, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported that Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp is witnessing an unprecedented mobilization of militants.
According to the newspaper, the number of militants that have received training and arms has reached 120. They mainly spread in Ain el-Hilweh's al-Taware' neighborhood under the leadership of Haitham and Mohammed al-Shaabi.
Several militants are also located in al-Sefsaf neighborhood and receive orders from Osama al-Shehabi.
As for fighters located in al-Manshiyyeh, they follow the orders of Toufiq Tah and those in al-Tireh are led by Bilal Bader.
Around 70 members of Takfiri groups have entered Ain el-Hilweh in the past week, al-Joumhouria said.
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