Deadly fighting spreads in Lebanon camps

SIDON (AFP) - Deadly firefights raged in a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon early on Monday, opening a new front for the army as it battles to crush an Al-Qaeda inspired militia in the north of the country in a 16-day standoff.

Residents were plunged into panic by the gunbattles which first flared late Sunday between the army and Sunni Muslim extremists near Ein al-Helweh, the largest of Lebanon's 12 refugee camps in the southern city of Sidon.

Two soldiers and two militants were killed and 11 wounded, a military spokesman said, and dozens of families fled to safety before calm was restored later Monday.

The fighting erupted as Lebanese troops continued to lay siege to Fatah al-Islam gunmen in the Nahr al-Bared camp near the northern port city of Tripoli in a standoff that has left more than 100 people dead.