NAHR AL-BARED, LEBANON, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - Five rockets damaged a power station on Thursday near a refugee camp in northern Lebanon where the army has been battling Islamists for more than two months, a local official said.

"Five Katyusha rockets fired from Nahr al-Bared camp hit the Deir Ammar power station causing minor damage," Ahmad Eid, the head of the municipality at Deir Ammar told AFP. "The oil reservoirs were not hit."

Eid said one rocket struck near one of the reservoirs, causing a fire that was quickly put out. Another rocket hit a building and three others landed on the grounds of the facility. Eid said the station was shut down after the rocket attack.

Witnesses reported intense fighting early Thursday between Lebanese soldiers and Fatah al-Islam militants who still control a small area of Nahr al-Bared.

Most of the refugee camp's 31,000 residents have fled since the beginning of the fighting, which has left at least 200 people dead, including 125 soldiers..

The only civilians remaining are around 60 women and children related to the Fatah Al-Islam fighters. The army has accused the Islamists of using them as human shields, but other sources have said they are staying willingly.

The conflict, which began May 20, has in recent weeks caused severe power shortages across the country with ships unable to deliver oil to the Deir Ammar plant.

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