Fatah commander reportedly killed

A senior commander of the Fatah movement has reportedly been killed in a bomb explosion in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.

"Talal al-Asmar was killed when a bomb placed near a Fatah office in Ain el-Helweh exploded," AFP quoted a senior Fatah official as saying on Tuesday.

However, a Fatah member later told AP, "Asmar was seriously wounded in the head and body and is in critical condition after undergoing surgery."

Following the incident, Fatah gunmen loyal to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas exchanged fire with the Jund al-Sham fighters in the camp.

Palestinian sources link Asmar's killing to the July 20 bloody fighting in the Ain el-Helweh camp during which three Palestinians were killed, including Jund al-Sham leader Shehade Jawhar.

The Ain el-Helweh refugee camp, which has a population of more than 45,000, has recently witnessed fierce clashes between the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Jund al-Sham. The clashes have caused fear among those Palestinians who have taken refuge in the camp miles away from their motherland.

MMS/PA