UN chief visits Palestinian camp destroyed in 2007 fighting

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon waves to journalists on his arrival to meet with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 24, 2016. The U.N. chief arrived in Lebanon on an official visit that comes as the U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and the opposition are to adjourn until later in April. Ban will meet top Lebanese officials and address refugee support, youth unemployment, and private sector development. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) (The Associated Press)

NAHR EL-BARED, Lebanon – The U.N. chief has visited a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon that was destroyed in fierce battles against al-Qaida-inspired militants almost a decade ago.

Amid tight security, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon inspected the Aamaq school at Nahr el-Bared, where officials explained on a map the ongoing reconstruction of the camp.

The Lebanese military fought a three-month battle in 2007 against the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam group inside Nahr el-Bared. The Lebanese army crushed the group, but the clashes also killed more than 170 soldiers.

Ban is on a two-day visit to Lebanon along with the World Bank Group president. He is also scheduled to visit a social center for Syrian refugees in Tripoli and an informal refugee settlement in the eastern Bekaa Valley.