File Photo: UN Peacekeepers from the Philippines
From
Russia Today:
Syrian rebels have seized twenty UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights on the border between Syria and Israel. The United Nations Security Council demands the convoy’s immediate release.
A young fighter saying he was from the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" said the peacekeepers would not be set free until Syrian government forces withdrew from the village of Jamlah, a mile east of the ceasefire link with the Israeli-occupied Golan, Reuters reports.
"If no withdrawal is made within 24 hours we will treat them as prisoners," he said, claiming the UN forces had collaborated with Syrian government troops to drive the fighters out of the village.
After a video appeared on YouTube showing several armed-rebel fighters standing in front of two white armored vehicles bearing the UN inscription with at least five peacekeepers inside, the UN confirmed the incident.
The capture of the UN observers points to how the situation on the ground in Syria is getting out of control and all sides are unable to control armed groups on the ground, Karl Sharpo, a Middle East blogger, told RT. He further warned that that there is no way of knowing whose hands outside aid will end up.
Since the outset of Syrian unrest, certain analysts such as Crooke have observed that contrary to the narrative of the Syrian situation being merely a peaceful protest against the Syrian regime, the conflict has always possessed an armed Jihadi/Takfiri component. Here is more evidence if anyone needed it.
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