from the B.B.C.

Fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamist gunmen from a Palestinian refugee camp has killed at least 40 people in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

Some 15 fighters from the radical Fatah Islam group and 23 Lebanese soldiers died in intense battles, reports said.

At least two civilians were also killed and a further 40 reportedly hurt in the worst internal fighting Lebanon has seen since the civil war ended in 1990.

Later on Sunday, a large explosion sent a plume of black smoke above Beirut.

A woman is reported to have died in the blast in the largely Christian eastern district of Ashrafieh. At least 10 people are said to have been hurt. The cause of the blast is not yet known.

‘Unprovoked aggression’

Fighting erupted on Sunday morning after security forces raided a building in the northern city of Tripoli to arrest suspects in a bank robbery. After resisting arrest, militants said to belong to Fatah Islam attacked army posts at the entrances to the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, which is home to some 30,000 displaced Palestinians.

Emergency workers evacuated the injured from the blast in Beirut

Several hours later, a large force of Lebanese troops hit back at Fatah Islam, bombarding the camp and storming a building on the outskirts of Tripoli.

Two civilians were killed and 40 were injured, AFP news agency reported. A Lebanese army spokesman said another 27 soldiers were injured.

The Nahr el-Bared camp has been under scrutiny since two bus bombings in a Christian area of Beirut in February, blamed on Fatah Islam militants based in the camp.

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