Abduction illustrates UN vulnerability in Syria

By Karin Laub

Published March 7, 2013 5:00am ET

Add Washington Examiner on Google

Abduction illustrates UN vulnerability in Syria — A Syrian Army tank moves towards the Syrian village of Jamlah in the southern province of Daraa, Syria, as seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights ,Thursday, March 7, 2013. Clashes between Syrian troops and rebel fighters flared on Thursday near an area where armed fighters linked to the opposition abducted 21 U.N. peacekeepers a day earlier. The peacekeepers are part of a force that monitors a cease-fire between Israeli and Syrian troops in the Golan Heights. Israel captured part of the territory in the 1967 Mideast war, and while the area has been peaceful for decades, Israeli officials have grown increasingly jittery as the Syrian civil war moves closer to its borders. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) | Ariel Schalit

BEIRUT (AP) — New video Thursday of U.N. peacekeepers held captive by Syrian rebels illustrates the sudden vulnerability of a U.N. force that had patrolled a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria without incident for nearly four decades.

The abduction of the Filipino troops — soft targets in Syria’s civil war — also sent a worrisome signal to Israel about the lawlessness it fears along the shared frontier if Syrian President Bashar Assad is ousted.

Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account

Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.

Full midterm coverage.Deeper analysis.

Get unlimited access to Washington Examiner's reporting, expert analysis, and coverage of the midterm elections.

Get Unlimited Access

Cancel anytime.

Tag:

World