Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr announced on Tuesday that 222 Fatah al-Islam terrorists were killed during fighting in the northern refugee camp of Nahr al- Bared and its environs, local Naharnet news website reported.
The terrorists also lost an undisclosed number of militants in the fight which broke out on May 20 and ended on Sunday, Murr told a news conference held here, adding that 202 militants were captured.
The army, Murr said, lost 163 "martyrs" in the firefight, the toughest since the 15-year civil war came to an end on Oct. 13, 1990.
He stressed that henceforth "there will be no authority but state authority to protect the civilians at Nahr al-Bared," a Palestinian refugee camp locates some 12 km north of Tripoli.
"The army has defeated Fatah al-Islam, it has defeated terrorism," said the minister, adding that the country was determined to continue to fight terrorism.
About 3,000 soldiers took part in the fighting at Nahr al-Bared, including several commando units which began to withdraw from the area Tuesday to head back to their bases.
The army finally took control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Sunday after more than three months of fierce battles, including air, sea and land bombardment against the entrenched Fatah al-Islam militants.
Source: Xinhua
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