2 dead in truce breach at Lebanon Palestinian camp

Attack endangers fragile ceasefire that followed fatal clashes between Fatah supporters and Islamists

By AFP 27 August 2015, 10:42 am

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Smoke billows in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp near Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon on August 23, 2015. (Mahmoud Zayyat/ AFP)

Two people were killed when gunmen briefly opened fire in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, breaching a tense ceasefire, Palestinian sources said on Thursday.

A source from the Fatah Palestinian faction said a Fatah official and a civilian had been killed in fire by “unidentified gunmen” overnight in Ain al-Helweh in southern Lebanon.

The breach threatened a ceasefire that ended several days of clashes between Fatah and an Islamist group in the camp.

Palestinian officials said the ceasefire remained in place despite the breach and that high-level contacts were made during the night to ensure it would be respected.

Ain al-Helweh is an impoverished, overcrowded camp near the coastal city of Sidon, home to some 61,000 Palestinians, including 6,000 who fled the war in Syria.