Philippines leave Golan Heights

The Philippines welcomed home 244 UN peacekeepers from the Golan Heights on Friday, after pulling out the troops two weeks ahead of schedule.

The Filipino troops are being repatriated because of the "deteriorating security situation," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said, adding that the UN had also approved the withdrawal. "Protection of our soldiers is in the national interest," Zagala said.

A smaller group of 85 peacekeepers is scheduled to fly home from the Golan Heights Sunday .

The premature withdrawal brings to an end the country's five-year role in the Golan Heights peacekeeping mission, which Zagala said had been blighted by kidnappings and attacks by Syrian rebels.

In recent days, security conditions on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights have quickly deteriorated, bringing the safety of UN peacekeepers into question.

On Monday, several hundred UN peacekeepers stationed in the Golan Heights left the no-firing buffer zone between Israel and Syria. The troops moved westward into Israeli-controlled territory in order to distance themselves from areas in which Syrian government forces and rebels have been fighting for weeks.

The relocation came after 45 Fijian peacekeepers were abducted for two weeks on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights. The troops, who were freed last week, had been captured by fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Despite prematurely pulling out of the Golan Heights, Zagala said the Philippines are "still committed to the UN" and will continue joining UN peacekeeping missions abroad.

ksb/mkg (AP, AFP, dpa)