...Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month warned NATO commanders and foreign diplomats that civilian casualties had reached an "unacceptable level," and were angering Afghans.

U.S. military officials have underscored that Taliban fighters hide among civilians, deliberately using them as human shields.

But Gen. Craddock said close air support is inherently risky because decisions are made as a situation unfolds in the heat of battle.

"This is imperfect science. So when you see six bad guys who are attacking your forces go into a building, do you lay off or do you go after?...

... "It's mass destruction in there. The dead people are strewn on the streets. Nobody is picking them up," said camp resident Awad Saeed Awad as he boarded a bus for the nearby Beddawi camp where many were seeking refuge.

"We haven't seen Fatah al-Islam. They're probably hiding in the alleyways."

The fighting has killed at least 22 militants and 32 soldiers. Camp residents have spoken of dozens of civilians dead, with bodies in the streets and buried under rubble...

... Human Rights Watch said: "The Lebanese army must take better precautions to prevent needless civilian deaths".

"Fatah al-Islam militants must not hide among civilians," said Joe Stork, the organisation's deputy Middle East director.

...Two hours earlier, Gaza's once-mighty Preventative Security Services headquarters fell. Mr Hassan and his men arrived too late to assist their besieged comrades. He said he saw Hamas gunmen slit the throats of two surrendering officers...

...As he prepared for a showdown, Mr Hassan explained what went wrong. "Hamas doesn't have fixed bases we can attack. They are in houses and civilian places and in the streets. We try to run after them and they hide among the civilians. This is our weakness."

Hamas had other advantages: every officer in every branch of the official Palestinian security forces was known to it. The Islamist movement at the helm of the Palestinian unity government simply obtained the salary rolls from the finance ministry. It was then able systematically to target, threaten, and often execute hundreds of key security officers, sowing discord and fear among the Fatah leadership.

As a special forces officer, Mr Hassan was singled out for such abuse. On Monday, Hamas stormed his home and burnt it down. They roughed up his mother-in-law and beat his brother, he said...