By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA — All Filipino peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (Undof), who were earlier trapped on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights then attacked by armed elements over the weekend, were safe after moving to positions away from possible threats.
They escaped from two places that were under siege by rebels and have safely moved to a different encampment, according to Malacañang.
“As of 7 a.m. Sunday, all Filipino peacekeepers from Position 68 and Position 69 have repositioned to Camp Ziuoani,” said Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in a press briefing aired over the radio yesterday.
“All of them are safe. In the movement, there is casualty or injury among the ranks,” Coloma added in Filipino.
Forty peacekeepers made a daring escape after being surrounded and under fire for seven hours by Syrian rebels, leaving 44 Fijian troops still in the hands of the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, officials yesterday said.
“We may call it the greatest escape,” Philippine military chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said.
The peacekeepers became trapped after Syrian rebels entered the United Nations-patrolled buffer zone between Syria and Israel this week, seizing 44 Fijian soldiers and demanding that their Filipino colleagues surrender with their weapons.
The Filipinos in two UN encampments refused and clashed with the rebels on Saturday. The first group of 35 peacekeepers was then successfully escorted out of a UN encampment in Breiqa by Irish and Filipino forces on board armored vehicles.
The remaining 40 peacekeepers were besieged at the second encampment called Rwihana by more than 100 gunmen who rammed the camp’s gates with their trucks and fired mortar rounds. The Filipinos returned fire in self-defense, military officials said.
At one point, Syrian government forces fired artillery rounds from a distance to prevent the Filipino peacekeepers from being overwhelmed, said Col. Roberto Ancan, a military official who helped monitor the tense standoff from here and mobilize support for the besieged troops.
“Although they were surrounded and outnumbered, they held their ground for seven hours,” Catapang said in a news conference in Manila, adding there were no Filipino casualties. “We commend our soldiers for exhibiting resolve even while under heavy fire.”
As night fell and a cease-fire took hold, the 40 Filipinos fled with their weapons, traveling across the chilly hills for nearly two hours, before meeting up with other UN forces, which escorted them to safety early Sunday, Philippine officials said.
Coloma, meanwhile, extended the Philippines’ gratitude to Undof and other allies, including Syria, Israel, Qatar, and the United States, for their assistance in keeping peace and stability in the Golan Heights.
“The stability was achieved as a result of the coordination among the UN and various countries following the daring rescue of Filipino soldiers from attacks of Syrian rebels on Saturday morning,” he said.
US Vice President Joe Biden called President Benigno Aquino III on Saturday to express US support for the Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights.
The White House, in a statement, said the two leaders tackled their “shared interest in strengthening UN peacekeeping operations.”
“The Vice President praised the commitment of the Philippines over many years to UN peacekeeping missions, including in Liberia, where the support of the international community remains critical to addressing the Ebola outbreak. The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a strong bilateral alliance,” read the statement posted on the White House website. (With a report from Associated Press/PN)
