Middle East

Fierce clashes rock Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

Associated Press
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An injured member of the Palestinian Fateh Movement stands guard during clashes that erupted between the Palestinian Fatah Movement and Islamists in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, April 9, 2017. Ein el-Hilweh, the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, is notorious for its lawlessness and is home to some extremists who sympathize with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) (The Associated Press)

An injured member of the Palestinian Fateh Movement stands guard during a clashes that erupted between the Palestinian Fatah Movement and Islamists in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, April 9, 2017. Ein el-Hilweh, the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, is notorious for its lawlessness and is home to some extremists who sympathize with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) (The Associated Press)

A member of the Palestinian Fateh Movement prepares to fires an RPG during a clashes that erupted between the Palestinian Fatah Movement and Islamists in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, April 9, 2017. Ein el-Hilweh, the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, is notorious for its lawlessness and is home to some extremists who sympathize with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari) (The Associated Press)

Security forces have clashed with Islamic extremists for the third consecutive day in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Sunday that at least two people have been killed since the clashes began.

Ambulances are rushing the wounded to hospitals near the Ein el-Hilweh camp as the sounds of rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire echo from inside. Sidon's government hospital was struck by a rocket, and Lebanese authorities have closed the main highway connecting the port city to southern Lebanon.

On Saturday, local Palestinian commander Subhi Abu Arab vowed to crush the followers of radical preacher Bilal Badr.

The U.N. says some 55,000 people live in Ein el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon.