UNSC Urges Armed Groups to Leave UNDOF Positions, calls for Immediate Release of Kidnapped Peacekeepers
UNITED NATIONS-The UN Security Council yesterday urged armed groups to leave all the positions of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Syrian Golan Heights and to hand the seized weapons and equipments back to the peacekeeping force.
In a unanimously approved declaration, the Security Council renewed its condemnation of the kidnapping of 40 peacekeepers working in the Golan by al-Qaeda-affiliated group Jabhet al-Nousra and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
“It is necessary to respect the security, neutrality, mandate and operations of the peacekeeping force,” the Security Council said, adding that this “necessitates armed groups to leave all the UNDOF positions and hand the weapons and equipments back to the UN soldiers.
The council called on countries with influence on the kidnappers to pressure them to release the peacekeepers, affirming its complete support for the UN force and its important role in the Golan.
Earlier, a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates had affirmed that the Syrian government “holds the terrorist groups and their supporters fully responsible for the safety of the kidnapped UN soldiers and calls for their immediate release.”
Hamda Mustafa