(Reuters) — Syrian militants have surrounded an encampment of U.N. peacekeepers, Philippine armed forces spokesperson Domingo Tutaan said on Friday (August 29).
Militants fighting the Syrian army have detained 43 U.N. peacekeepers from Fiji in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and trapped 81 troops from the Philippines, the United Nations said on Thursday (August 28). The 43 troops from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force(UNDOF) were detained in the vicinity of Al Qunaytirah and the 81 peacekeepers from thePhilippines have been restricted to their positions in the vicinity of Ar Ruwayhinah and Burayqah, the U.N. said.
Major General Domingo Tutaan, a spokesperson for Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the rebels were not attacking the Filipino peacekeepers’ positions at this time.
“So there was no firefight. There was no direct contact or engagement with the anti-government armed elements of Syria and our forces in the area,” Tutaan said.
The United Nations said this week that the Philippines has decided to pull out of UNDOF, and from a U.N. force in Liberia, which is struggling with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.
U.N. troops from the Philippines were seized by militants in March 2013, and were released safely. However, unlike the last time when the Filipino troops were unarmed, this time they are in fortified positions and armed with light machine guns and assault rifles, the Philippine militarysaid.
“Our people are in a well-defensive mode unlike what happened last year. And they have their own personal protective equipment. What I mean is they have their vest, they have their kevlars, and in those positions they also close-circuit TV camera that can oversee the soldiers,” commander of Philippines peacekeeping operations, Colonel Roberto Ancan, said, adding that they are well-trained.
U.N. officials say that the peacekeepers, whose job is to monitor the cessation of hostilities, carry small arms that are only to be used in extreme circumstances. In previous situations where UNDOF peacekeepers were held hostage, the troops did not use their weapons.
Ancan said they are in contact with the Philippine battalion headquarters in the area, and are hopeful that United Nations efforts to secure the peacekeepers’ safety and de-escalate the situation will be effective.
The Quneitra crossing on the Golan is a strategic plateau captured by Israel in a 1967 Middle East war. Syria and Israel technically remain at war. Syrian troops are not allowed in an area of separation under a 1973 ceasefire formalized in 1974.
UNDOF monitors the area of separation, a narrow strip of land running about 45 miles (70 km) from Mount Hermon on the Lebanese border to the Yarmouk River frontier with Jordan. There are 1,223 UNDOF peacekeepers from six countries.
Before the Syrian civil war, now in its fourth year, the region was generally quiet and the peacekeepers had mostly found their biggest enemy to be boredom.
The force’s personnel come from Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines.
Austria, Japan and Croatia have all pulled their troops out of UNDOF due to the deteriorating security situation and spillover from the Syrian war.
