All the reported victims belonged to Fatah according to security sources. Jund al-Sham did not report its casualties.

Fighting initially erupted Thursday when the mainstream Fatah organization arrested Hussam Maarouf, a member of Jund al-Sham, and handed him over to the Lebanese army on charges that he tried to kill Fatah officials at the camp , Palestinian officials at Ein el-Helweh have reported. Maarouf was alos wanted by the Lebanese army on other crimes.

Jund al-Sham gunmen attacked Fatah offices in the camp with machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades, in response to the arrest of their comrade, security officials said. Fatah fighters hit back with their own volleys of RPGs and machine-gun fire.

The echo of gunfire was heard in as far as Sidon.

Many Palestinian families fled to safer areas in nearby Sidon as the fighting escalated .

Jund al-Sham is an extremist Islamic militant group which is connected to Al Qaida . It has in the past clashed with the Lebanese army and other Palestinian groups including the mainstream Fatah organization. The group was blamed for several bombings in both Lebanon and Syria

Jund el Sham is a splinter of Usbat el Ansar , another extremist Palestinian Islamic militant group. Its name ( soldiers of al Sham ) is derived from the Syrian term of Bilad el Sham , which includes Jordan , Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine ( present day Israel) and Syria. It has Palestinian and Lebanese fighters .

Several fighters of Fatah al Islam ( not related to mainstream Fatah organization) came from Jund al-Sham. Last year Fatah al Islam fought the Lebanese army for 106 days in the Nahr el bared Palestinian refugee camp. At the end of the battle the Lebanese army declared victory . Fatah al Islam was disbanded and its leader had reportedly fled to Syria where he came from .

With a population of 70,000 , Ein el-Hilweh, , is the largest of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps. A number of fugitives live in the camp, which is under Palestinian jurisdiction . Under an agreement called Cairo accord the refugee camps are off limits to the Lebanese authorities. This camp has seen a lot of fighting and is considered the most dangerous in Lebanon.

Palestinian Fatah gunmen take up positions in an alley at the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp after night clashes between rival Palestinian groups in the camp at Sidon city in southern Lebanon March 22, 2008.

A Palestinian woman holds her child as she rests outisde a mosque on the outskirts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Helweh outside the southern port of Sidon after fleeing her home.

Jund el Sham Palestinian militants in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp

Palestinian children look at gunmen at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp after night clashes between rival Palestinian groups in the camp at Sidon city, southern Lebanon, March 22, 2008.

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