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UN peacekeepers 'detained'

August 28, 2014

More than forty UN peacekeepers have been detained by an "armed group" on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. Another 81 are reported to have been "restricted."

https://p.dw.com/p/1D3Fq
Syrian observation point at Golan Heights
Image: Reuters

The UN said on Thursday that it is working to secure the release of 43 peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), who were "detained" by an armed group earlier in the day in the Quneitra area of the Golan Heights.

A further 81 peacekeepers who were operating in the same area are reported to be "trapped."

According to the UN, the 43 peacekeepers were detained, "during a period of increased fighting beginning yesterday between armed elements and Syrian Arab Armed Forces", but were unable to confirm which armed group has detained the peacekeepers.

Several Syrian rebel groups, however, including the al-Qaida-linked Nursa Front, have been fighting the Syrian military near the Golan Heights.

The UNDOF, whose troops come from Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines, has been monitoring a 1974 disengagement accord between Syria and Israel following their 1973 war.

More to come.

ksb/jr (Reuters, dpa, AFP)