UN peace keepers in return to borderland

UN peacekeepers have returned to patrol the frontier between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, years after an escalation in fighting and abduction of UN troops had prompted them to withdraw.

For the first time, Russian forces yesterday joined the peacekeepers – a sign of Russia’s deepening involvement as a mediator between Israel and Syria.

Israel for its part acknowledged a return to normalcy along the frontier, which had become particularly volatile in recent months amid a Syrian government offensive to retake territories along the border.

Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy said Russian military police accompanied the UN peacekeepers on the mission. The peacekeeping mission was halted in 2014 amid the violence in Syrian’s civil war over security concerns.

Syria has seen spells of fighting between rebels, government forces and Islamic State militants on the Golan Heights since civil war erupted in 2011.