The following is a breakdown of the first three days I witnessed of the “war” from inside the Nahr El Bared camp and from the vicinity.
Day 1: Monday May 21, 2007. The Lebanese military destroyed the camp’s 8 electrical plants all at once at 6pm, and the water tanks the next day at 3am. Civilians don’t have water because they normally use electricity to pump the water from the wells to the tanks of every district. The camp is divided into 4 districts ( A, B, G, D) Fateh Al Islam takes over military positions in the camp except for “Tal El Sit”. Lebanese army endures severe loses as announced in the news.
Day 2: Tuesday May 22, 2007. The Lebanese army bombards the camp heavily to regain its pride. Many houses are demolished and several stand partially destroyed. The 4 mosques are shelled several times. FAI fighters take on 6 casualties. 12 civilians are killed. The bodies are stalked into a warehouse close to the mosque. People can not bury the bodies because of the heavy shelling. A PRCS ( Palestinian Red Crescent Society) ambulance executed the first evacuation but the driver is shot in the neck by a sniper. FAI retreat from the military positions they had taken over from the army, due to strategic reasons; they are now an open target. The first ceasefire: 4 to 4.30. pm. The local civilians appointed people to make sure the FAI fighters are not using their homes to fire at the army. The army admits that there are snipers positioned on the roofs of houses.
Day 3: Wednesday May 23, 2007. The worst fighting because the army has taken heavy losses. They used unconventional weapons like 150 mm and phosphorous. Close to 10,000 mortars are used to shell the camp. Mortars fall close to Al Jabil Mosque , under which 2000 people were hiding, in a bomb shelter.
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