Syrian jihadis kidnap 20 Filipino UN personnel near Israel border on Golan Heights

Syria jihadis near the village of Jamla on the Golan Heights have captured a convoy of United Nations vehicles and kidnapped 20 Filipino UN employees, according to a video released by the jihadis on Wednesday
The kidnappers were negotiating with UN forces and demanding that the Syrian regime remove all its troops from the area adjoining the Syrian side of the border with Israel
It was the first time that members of the Golan peacekeeping mission, officially known as the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, had been detained by any of the combatants in the Syrian conflict, although the Golan region has been periodically affected by armed clashes and occasional artillery or mortar bombardments that have become a source of concern to Israel

UN vehicles on the Golan Heights

Josephine Guerrero, a spokeswoman for the Departments of Peacekeeping and Field Support at the United Nations, which oversees the Golan operation, said the group of 20 peacekeepers were detained near a damaged observation post that had been evacuated this past weekend after what she called ?heavy combat in proximity? near the village of Al Jamlah. She said in an e-mailed statement that the mission was ?dispatching a team to assess the situation and attempt a resolution?
She had no further information on the insurgents involved, but a video uploaded on YouTube by a group that identified itself as the Martyrs of Yarmook claimed responsibility and said the peacekeepers would be held until Syrian government forces had withdrawn from the area. The video does not show any of the captives but does show United Nations vehicles
The detention of the peacekeepers appeared to underscore the widening risks that the Syria conflict is destabilizing its borders. On Monday, more than 40 Syrian soldiers who had sought temporary safety in Irak were killed in an ambush as the Iraki military was transporting them back to the Syrian border

The countryside near Al Jamlah, Syria

Earlier Wednesday in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Britain was prepared to supply armored all-terrain vehicles, body armor and other ?nonlethal military equipment? to the Syrian political opposition, apparently nudging his government?s public support for the rebels beyond the food and medical supplies pledged last week by the United States
?Diplomacy is taking far too long and the prospect of an immediate breakthrough is slim,? Mr. Hague said, stressing that the promised new support was designed to protect civilian foes of President Bashar al-Assad, not to arm rebel soldiers
?Each month of violence in Syria means more death, wider destruction, larger numbers of refugees, and bloodier military confrontation,? Mr. Hague told Parliament. It is unclear what this latest development means in terms of assisting the ?opposition?

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague

News reports here and here. YT links for kidnappers' videos, in Arabpig, here and here.

Source: http://pislamonauseacentral.blogspot.com/2013/03/syrian-jihadis-kidnap-20-filipino-un.html

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