BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- The Lebanese army conducted a pair of raids Wednesday in northern Lebanon as part of an effort to oust militants seeking refuge there.
Local media said military helicopters attacked two suspected Nahr El-Bared militant strongholds early Wednesday, prompting a series of clashes, the Kuwaiti News Agency KUNA reported.
The Lebanese army focused its efforts Tuesday in northern Lebanon and has reportedly taken control of most of the suspected militant camp, KUNA said.
The military raids came on the heels of an agreement between army officials and the radical Islamic group Fatah al-Islam,that allowed civilians to leave the area.
The Lebanon Daily Star said nearly all of the 31,000 residents of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp left the compound when the regional violence began earlier this year.
Tuesday's agreement gave permission for the estimated 100 civilians still in the camp to leave without threat of violence from either side.
Army officials had accused the militants of using the civilians as hostages, despite the fact the non-combatant group included several militants' family members, the newspaper said.
