UN peacekeepers battle rebels

The Filipino peacekeepers came "under attack" by Syrian rebels at a UN encampment at around 6am local time (0300 UTC) on Saturday, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said in Manila. There have been no reports of casualties.

The rebels on Thursday also detained 43 Fijian members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and surrounded more than 70 Philippine soldiers manning two UN posts on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

In a statement sent to reporters via text message, Gazmin said one group had been "extricated" from their position, but soldiers in the second group were engaged in a gun battle.

Philippine Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said Philippine authorities were keeping a close eye on the situation, and "there is still an ongoing standoff...although there is a firefight, our troops are safe."

Fijian hostages

The assault comes after about 150 Syrian fighters overran a UN post on Thursday morning and seized 43 Fijian soldiers. The head of Filipino troops on UN missions, Colonel Roberto Ancan, told AFP the rebels had then sent back an English-speaking Fijian hostage to relay a demand for Filipino peacekeepers to surrender their weapons, but they refused. The rebels then encircled the two camps.

According to the UN, groups affiliated with al Qaeda, including the Nusra Front, are behind the abduction.

UN officials said in a statement on Friday they were negotiating the release of the detained Fijian forces, adding that they had "received assurances from credible sources" the peacekeepers were "safe and in good health," but had not had contact with them.

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.

nm/tj (AFP, AP, dpa)