FEATURES
By Sumathi Reddy and Sumathi Reddy,Sun reporter | January 29, 2008
Iftin Iftin dodges through the crowded halls of Patterson High School. In low-slung khaki pants and black-and-white sneakers, a backpack thrown over his shoulder, the slight senior blends in as students pass by him, slapping his hand. "Iftin, wassup?" says one student. The 21-year-old flashes a smile, nodding his head in recognition. "What's up?" the Somali Bantu refugee responds, his strong African accent belying his appearance. A small black pin reading "Amini" is on his powder-blue shirt.
NEWS
By Hala Moughanie and Borzou Daragahi and Hala Moughanie and Borzou Daragahi,LOS ANGELES TIMES | July 13, 2007
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Fierce clashes between government forces and Islamic militants left at least six soldiers dead yesterday as Lebanon marked the first anniversary of the summer war that stretched the country to the breaking point. The Lebanese army fired artillery and tank shells into the Nahr el Bared refugee camp near the northern coastal city of Tripoli. A well-armed Islamic militant group called Fatah al Islam, which shares the ideology of al-Qaida, has quartered itself in the camp that was home to 40,000 Palestinian refugees before the fighting started May 20. Television footage showed thick plumes of black smoke rising from the camp, which has been the scene of occasionally fierce fighting since the conflict broke out. "It's the fireworks," Mustapha Abou Harb, a spokesman for the Palestinian group Fatah, said in a phone conversation, explosions erupting in the background.
NEWS
By Raed Rafei and Louise Roug and Raed Rafei and Louise Roug,LOS ANGELES TIMES | June 4, 2007
AIN AL-HILWEH, Lebanon -- Islamic militants attacked an army checkpoint yesterday in the south near the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp, raising fears that a second front has opened between the Lebanese army and al-Qaida-inspired militants. Thousands of soldiers are deployed in the northern part of the country, fiercely battling a few hundred fighters who are holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp there. Fighters from the Jund al-Sham group attacked the checkpoint at the entrance to the Ain al-Hilweh camp, using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.
NEWS
By New York Times News Service | June 3, 2007
TRIPOLI, Lebanon -- Heavy shelling and gunfire continued for the second day at the Nahr al Bared refugee camp, as the Lebanese army intensified its offensive against the Fatah al Islam militia. Three soldiers were killed and 15 were wounded in the fighting by yesterday afternoon, the army reported, raising the number of the army's deaths from the two-day offensive to six. Dozens of militants from Fatah al Islam, an al-Qaida-inspired group, have also been killed or wounded, the army said.
NEWS
By Raed Rafei and Raed Rafei,Los Angeles Times | June 2, 2007
NAHR EL-BARED, Lebanon -- Government troops stormed positions held by al-Qaida-linked militants on the outskirts of this refugee camp in northern Lebanon yesterday, in some of the fiercest fighting in two weeks. At least 14 people, including two soldiers, were killed, according to security officials, who also said Lebanese forces moved against outlying paramilitary bases used by Fatah al-Islam militants without entering the camp itself. "Elite forces were able to take over a number of key posts that were used by snipers from group on the northern and eastern outskirts of the camp," a senior army official said on condition of anonymity.
NEWS
By McClatchy Tribune | May 26, 2007
NAHR EL-BARED, Lebanon -- An Islamist militant group holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon will fight to the death, a spokesman said yesterday, adding that newly arrived military aid from the United States and other countries to the Lebanese army don't faze the fighters. Abu Salim, the spokesman for Fatah al-Islam, told McClatchy Newspapers in a phone interview that surrender was not an option and that fighters were ready for the next stage of battle with the Lebanese troops surrounding them in the olive groves, citrus orchards and a commercial strip just outside the Nahr el-Bared camp.