Lebanon ? Police have killed the deputy commander of al-Qaida-inspired militants entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, the government said Monday.

Abu Hureira was killed a few days ago by police in the northern port city of Tripoli, near the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where Fatah Islam militants have been fighting Lebanese soldiers for more than two months, said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi.

“Cabinet was informed by Interior Minister Hassan Sabei that Lebanese security forces have killed the Fatah Islam’s No. 2 in the Abu Samra neighborhood” in Tripoli, Aridi told reporters following a Cabinet meeting.

A senior police official said Abu Hureira was one of two men on a motorcycle who opened fire on a police checkpoint in Abu Samra. Police fired back, killing one and wounding the other.