"The army continues to engage in clashes with the gunmen, and the battle will continue until the end" to crush the Fatah Al Islam militants holed up in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr Al Bared, a military spokesman said. He said that the army did not suffer casualties Friday.

The spokesman said that for the first time since the conflict erupted May 20, the army used helicopters Thursday to dump several bombs weighing 250 kilograms (550 pounds) on underground bunkers in Nahr Al Bared.

"They are not guided missiles, they are bombs developed by the army in order to destroy the underground bunkers in the camp," he said.

On Thursday, an officer said that the army had achieved a new breakthrough in the last sector of Nahr Al Bared still held by the Islamist militants, without giving more details on the operations.

He said that the army "destroyed some buildings with explosives, uncovering the entrances to underground tunnels and fortifications."

More than 200 people, including 136 soldiers, have been killed since the conflict erupted May 20, the worst internal violence since the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

Most of the camp's 31,000 residents have fled since the battles erupted, but about 60 women and children related to Fatah Al Islam fighters remain inside.

The army has accused the Islamists of using them as human shields. -Agencies