Special report: New clash between Israeli, Lebanese troops

    BEIRUT, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Some 20 Islamist militants and two Lebanese soldiers were killed in clashes on Sunday when the Islamists attempted to flee a battered Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a military source said.

    The Fatah al-Islam militants had staged a desperate attempt to break out of the Nahr al-Bared camp, some 12 km north of Tripoli, thus inflicting the casualties, said the source.

    The Lebanese army has been battling with the militants of Fatah al-Islam, which is listed by the Lebanese government as a terrorist network aimed at destabilizing Lebanon, since May 20.

    The army has refused to halt its military offensive before the militants surrender, but the gunmen have vowed to fight to the death. The bloodiest internal violence since the Lebanese 1975-1990 civil war has killed more than 200 people.