AIN HILWEH: At least one man was killed on Tuesday in clashes between Islamist militants and the Palestinian Fatah faction at a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon where a power struggle has fuelled days of violence.

The Ain el-Hilweh camp, on the outskirts of the southern coastal city of Sidon, has often seen factional disputes spiral into violence. Medical sources said the man killed was a civilian. Three other people, including a child, were wounded.

Gunmen from Fatah, the party of West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have regularly clashed with Islamist militants in the camp, including supporters of the militant Islamic State group and Al Qaeda.

Palestinian activists inside the camp urged people to protest against the violence, in which machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades have been used.

A loudspeaker on a mosque implored the warring sides to stop shooting to avoid civilian casualties, as gunfire rang out.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2017