UNITED NATIONS: The head of the Fijian army said on Sunday negotiations for the release of 44 soldiers abducted by an al Qaeda-linked group on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights were being pursued as the United Nations said it had no word on the troops whereabouts.
The UN peacekeepers from Fiji were seized by Islamist militants on Thursday, one of several groups attacked in the volatile frontier between Syria and Israel.
UN officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that they were now treating it as a case of kidnapping. The United Nations and Manila said on Sunday all 72 Philippine troops trapped by Islamists in a different area of the frontier were now safe, but it is still not known where the 44 Fijians are being held.
"At this time, no additional information on their status or location has been established. The United Nations continues to actively seek their immediate and unconditional release," the UN press office said in a statement.
Fijian Army Commander Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga told a media conference in Fiji that they "are continuing negotiations at all levels." He said they had been assured that the men were being treated well and had come to no harm, he said.
"However, we are still very concerned that we cannot confirm at this stage their exact location, whether they are still in Syria or whether they have been moved to neighbouring countries," Tikoitoga said.
The Fijian and Philippine troops are serving with UNDOF in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.
Syria and Israel technically remain at war and UNDOF monitors the area of separation, a narrow strip of land running about 70 km (45 miles) from Mount Hermon on the Lebanese border to the Yarmouk River frontier with Jordan.
The United Nations said the 40 Philippine troops had been moved to safety during a ceasefire agreed with "armed elements" in the area shortly after midnight local time.
It also said that troops from Observation Post 56 on Golan have relocated to a safer position as a precautionary measure.
"Elsewhere in the area of operation, UNDOF troops remain on high alert and continue to carry out their mandated tasks," the United Nations said.
Separately, Israel's military said it shot down a drone that flew from Syria into Israeli-controlled airspace over the Golan Heights on Sunday near the Quneitra border crossing with Syria.
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