Hundreds gathered in Beirut to watch a funeral procession for soldiers who were killed in fighting with Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

The soldiers' relatives comforted each other during the ceremony. Fighting began when security forces tried to arrest bank robbery suspects in the Nahr al-Bared camp.

The army has continued to pound the refugee camp, where militants from the Fatah al-Islam group are thought to be holed up.

Soldiers have tightened the siege around the Nahr al-Bared, after more than 50 people died in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the country's civil war ended 17 years ago.

Some wounded Palestinians have been taken to the nearby Badawi refugee camp to receive treatment from the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Palestinian youths took to the streets in Badawi to protest against Lebanon's bombardment of Nahr al-Bared.