NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Lebanese villagers on Sunday described seeing soldiers kill or capture Islamist militants trying to break out of a refugee camp where they had been besieged for more than three months.

Security sources and witnesses said Fatah al-Islam militants attempted to fight their way out of Nahr al-Bared at around dawn on Sunday by launching surprise attacks on army checkpoints with the help of militants on the outside.

"A Mercedes car pulled up to an army checkpoint on the eastern edge of the camp and began firing at soldiers as fighters launched an attack from inside," a security source who did not wish to be identified told AFP.

Militants simultaneously assaulted another checkpoint on the southern edge of the camp, the source said.

The army said about 20 militants were killed and several were taken prisoner in ensuing firefights in and around the camp that borders the Mediterranean north of Lebanon's second city, Tripoli.

Residents of nearby villages said they saw troops kill or capture some of the militants as they tried to flee.

"At 6:00 am I saw troops seize four bearded men dressed in black and kill three others they had surrounded in a lemon grove," said Mohammed Ahmad Hafza, 18, a farmer from the hilltop village of Muhammara some two kilometres (more than a mile) east of the camp.

Marzouk al-Mir, 21, also from Muhammara, said that about three hours later he saw soldiers nab another of the Al-Qaeda-inspired militants in the village. "He was dark-skinned, had a long beard and he was wearing black pants and a black T-shirt," Mir said. "He was holding an M16 rifle and the soldiers found gold pieces in his pocket. "His T-shirt bore the inscription 'There is no God but God and Muhammed is his prophet'," he added.

Zuhair al-Bahsa, 26, a carpenter, said militants attacked army positions in the village at dawn, killing one soldier and wounding another.

"The battles between the two sides raged from 4:00 am to 7:00 am and I saw troops capture four militants," Bahsa said.

Dozens of men, women and children gathered on the outskirts of Nahr al-Bared on Sunday, flashing the victory sign and cheering troops as they drove past.

"We hope this nightmare ends today," said Rakfat Mubayed, who owns a fruit stand near the southern entrance to the camp. "We are thrilled that the army is now finishing off with this gang of terrorists and criminals.

"People here will never forget how Fatah al-Islam slaughtered our soldiers. There isn't a single family in this area which did not suffer an army loss." Zaki Wehbe, a labourer, said people living in the area would not agree to the return of Palestinian refugees to the camp if any were armed.

"They are responsible for hosting Fatah al-Islam, so we do not trust them now. We will hold demonstrations if any are allowed to come back here with their weapons," he said.

Most of the camp's registered 31,000-strong population of Palestinian refugees fled when the fighting broke out on May 20, with many now crammed into another already overcrowded camp at Beddawi some 10 kilometres (six miles) to the south.

More than 220 people have been killed in the vicious standoff at Nahr al-Bared, including 155 soldiers.

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