Fatah Islam No. 2 Killed in Lebanon

In this photo released by the Lebanese Interior Ministry on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007, Fatah Islam deputy commander Shehab al-Qaddour also known as Abu Hureira who was killed a few days ago by police in the northern city of Tripoli is seen holding a mobile device in this undated picture. The Lebanese army announced Tuesday that troops have seized a large number of weapons and ammunition in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon where it has been fighting Islamic militants for more than two months. (AP Photo/Interior Ministry, HO) (AP)

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The No. 2 commander of al-Qaida-inspired militants battling Lebanese troops was killed in the fighting in recent days, the group said in a statement posted Wednesday on an Islamic Web site.

Fatah Islam said its deputy commander known as Abu Hureira has been killed in the fighting around a refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The statement gave no details as to the circumstances of his death.

The group said it was bringing the "good news to the Muslims of the martyrdom of a noble brother," according to the statement.

"We in the Fatah Islam movement and all the true mujahideen, pledge to God to avenge our brother's blood from the infidels and the renegades,"

The authenticity of the statement, posted on a Web site which commonly carries messages from al-Qaida and other militant groups, could not be independently confirmed.

On Monday, the government said police had killed Abu Hureira, a Lebanese whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour.

Information Minister Ghazi Aridi had said Abu Hureira was killed a few days ago by police in Tripoli, near the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared which is located on the city's outskirts.

Also on Wednesday, the Lebanese army said two more soldiers have died in the fighting. The army said in a statement one was killed Wednesday and the other died Tuesday "while carrying out their military duty" at Nahr el-Bared.

Their deaths raised to 136 the number of troops who have died since fighting between the army and Fatah Islam erupted on May 20.

The Nahr el-Bared fighting has dragged on to become Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war. In addition to the soldiers killed, an undetermined number of militants and more than 20 civilians have lost their lives.

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

The whereabouts of Abu Hureira and the Fatah Islam leader, Shaker Youssef Absi, have been unknown since fighting broke out. Absi's whereabouts remain unknown.

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Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt.