Syrian rebels free 45 Fijian peacekeepers, U.N. says
BEIRUT — Al Qaedalinked Syrian rebels on Thursday released all 45 Fijian peacekeepers they had held captive for two weeks, the United Nations said, bringing an end to a crisis that had pulled the U.N. monitoring force into the chaos of Syria’s civil war.
Fighters from the Nusra Front captured the Fijian troops late last month in the Golan Heights, where a 1,200strong U.N. force patrols the buffer zone between Syria and Israel. The area along the frontier has been engulfed in heavy clashes since then between the rebels and the Syrian military.
“We can confirm they have been released,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Thursday. He said they were freed at the Quneitra crossing point in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights.
The U.N. said in a separate statement that all 45 of the Fijian troops “are in good condition” and will be taken for a quick medical assessment.
The Fijian hostages were captured on Aug. 28, one day after rebels seized control of the Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing from President Bashar al Assad’s troops.
The same day the Fijians were taken captive, nearly 80 Filipino peacekeepers were trapped at two U.N. encampments, surrounded by rebel fighters who demanded they surrender. The Filipinos refused, and both groups of Philippine troops eventually escaped — one busting out with the help of Irish colleagues who came to rescue them, and the other by slip- ping away under the cover of darkness.
The Fijians’ release comes just hours after the Nusra Front posted a video online in which the captive peacekeepers can be seen sitting crosslegged in the background as two men with long beards deliver short speeches in Arabic. Near the end of the video, one of the Fijian soldiers addresses the camera in English. He says the date is Sept. 9 and it’s a “very happy day.”
“We’ve been informed that we will be released soon, and we are all very happy to be going home,” he says, adding that all the soldiers are alive, safe and well.
“I would like to assure you that we have not been harmed in any way,” he says, adding that they have been treated well by the Nusra Front, given that the group has limited resources.