Cautious Calm in Ain el-Hilweh after Gunbattles Leave 1 Dead

A cautious calm prevailed in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh on Sunday after a man was killed and two others were injured in clashes between rival militants.

The gunbattles erupted between Fatah and Bilal Badr brigade that is linked to Fatah al-Islam in al-Sefsaf area after midnight and lasted till dawn Sunday.

The National News Agency identified the dead man as Mouawiya Mazloum.

It said the popular committees met at the camp, which lies near the southern city of Sidon, to contain the incident.

The reason of the clashes remained unclear.

Later Sunday, the camp's residents organized a march to protest the gunbattles.

Ain el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in the country, is home to about 50,000 refugees and is known to harbor extremists and fugitives.

By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the country's 12 refugee camps, leaving security inside to the Palestinians themselves.