GOLAN HEIGHTS: UN peacekeepers caught up in heavy fighting on the Golan Heights were evacuated on Saturday as the fate of more than 110 of their colleagues captured by Syrian rebels remained uncertain.

A photographer heard intense small arms and missile fire in the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied part of the strategic plateau and the Syrian part, where soldiers with the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) are being held.

Irish soldiers with UNDOF, which is responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the armistice line between Israel and Syria, took part in an evacuation of UN troops during Saturday’s fighting, the Irish military said in a statement.

“Irish personnel secured a route, provided security as UNDOF troops withdrew from a UN position and escorted them to the Force Headquarters in Camp Faouar” on the Syrian side of the armistice line, the Irish statement said.

The Israeli military has cordoned off the area and reinforced its troops.

Several peacekeepers, whose nationality was not clear, were seen hurriedly leaving the area where the fighting is taking place via an Israeli-controlled crossing south of Quneitra.

UN soldiers said part of the encircled Filipino contingent had been brought out and that others were no longer in rebel hands but awaiting better security conditions so they could enter the Israeli-controlled part of the plateau.

Published in Dawn, August 31th, 2014