NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Lebanese army bombarded on Monday Islamic extremists battling its troops for a month in a refugee camp, a day after destroying major militant positions in the area.

Tanks and artillery fired a shell every five minutes on the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, hitting buildings and setting off a number of fires, an AFP correspondent said.

On Sunday, the army blew up two major militant positions in the camp, an army officer told AFP.

Gunmen from the Sunni extremist Fatah al-Islam group had been using the buildings to fire on the Lebanese army besieging Nahr al-Bared since fierce fighting erupted on May 20.

Lebanese flags were flying over the two buildings on Monday.

Since Friday, the army has progressed forward into the camp, pushing Fatah al-Islam militants back to the southern sector of the shantytown.

No Fatah al-Islam member could be reached since Friday.

The fighting has killed 135 people, including 68 soldiers and 50 Islamists.

Around 2,000 Palestinian refugees are believed to remain in the camp which was home to 31,000 before the start of the clashes -- the deadliest internal violence in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.

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