Safe and sound: All Filipino peacekeepers escape Golan standoff

All Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights are now safe after the remaining group of 40 made a daring escape last night. After coming under fire from Syrian rebels on Saturday, a group of 35 Filipino peacekeepers was successfully escorted out of a UN encampment in Breiqa by Irish and Filipino forces in armoured vehicles. A second group of 40 Filipino troops had remained trapped at another encampment, called Rwihana, where more than 100 gunmen rammed the camp’s gates with their trucks and fired mortar rounds.

Although they were surrounded and outnumbered, they held their ground for seven hours. We commend our soldiers for exhibiting resolve even while under heavy fire.

Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang

The 40 Filipinos fled the Rwihana encampment under cover of darkness, travelling across the chilly hills for nearly two hours, before meeting up with other UN forces, who escorted them to safety early Sunday. Clashes in the Golan Heights erupted after Syrian rebel groups—including al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front—overran the Quneitra crossing, seizing 44 Fijian peacekeepers. The Fijian troops remain in captivity.

Middle East Golan