(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-27 10:14

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in fighting with Islamic extremists at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a day after the families of the militants were evacuated, the military said Sunday.

Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in fighting with Islamic extremists at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a day after the families of the militants were evacuated, the military said Sunday. [AFP]

The army said the soldiers were killed Saturday at the Nahr el-Bared camp. It did not say how they were killed.

The deaths raise to 145 the number of soldiers who have died since fighting between the army and al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam militants erupted three months ago.

On Friday, the families of the besieged militants who had been caught inside the camp — 25 women and 38 children — were evacuated, clearing the way for a final military assault against remaining fighters inside.

Fighting between the militants and the soldiers resumed following the evacuation.

A senior military officer told The Associated Press Saturday that the decision to finish off the gunmen still holed up inside Nahr el-Bared has been taken.

"They have no choice but to surrender or we continue our operations," he said.

An estimated 70 fighters now remain holed up deep inside the coastal camp, just outside the northern port city of Tripoli. The fighting that has raged since May 20 is Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war.

The camp's more than 30,000 civilian residents fled in the first weeks of the fighting.

The army has refused to halt its offensive until the militants completely surrender, but the gunmen have vowed to fight to the death.