Islam Times - UN peacekeepers shot at in Golan Heights, UN says

Islam Times - The United Nations has said that hours after Syrian militants released 21 UN peacekeepers this weekend some other blue helmets were shot at in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

"Over the weekend there was an incident in which one post came under fire from two unidentified individuals," Martin Nesirky said on Monday.

Unidentified attackers targeted an observation post manned by members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), he stated.

The UN official added that no one, however, was injured during the indecent.

On Saturday, foreign-sponsored Syrian militants freed 21 Filipino peacekeepers, who were kidnapped by them on Wednesday.

The hostages were held in the village of Jamlah, in southwestern Syria, near the border with Jordan and the Golan Heights.

Following the hostage-taking, the armed groups circulated a video on the Internet, showing a number of militants with the peacekeepers.

"This is a very dangerous place to operate and it’s therefore obvious that our colleagues in peacekeeping operations would be reviewing very carefully the way that we then carry out patrols and so on, on the ground," Nesirky said.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.