Thousands of Palestinians on Tuesday night streamed out of a refugee camp in northern Lebanon to escape three days of fierce fighting between Islamic militants and the Lebanese army.

A lull in the clashes prompted a surge of vehicles and people on foot out of the Nahr el-Bared camp where militants from Fatah al-Islam, which has been using it as a base, have been under siege by the army. United Nations officials said up to 10,000 were expected to head for another nearby Palestinian refugee camp.