Al-Nusra Front is al-Qaeda-affiliate. UNDORF troops are from the Netherlands, Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, and the Philippines. Their mission is to monitor Golan Heights’ demilitarized zone. The UN Security Council condemned on Thursday the detention peacekeepers by Syrian militants in the Golan Heights and demands their unconditional and immediate release.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki communicated the American position: “The United States strongly condemns the detention of UN peacekeepers and ongoing violence targeting the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights by non-state armed groups, including UN Security Council-designated terrorist group al-Nusra Front.” UN troops have been captured several times over the course of the Syrian civil war which has now been occurring for more than four years.
