Thirty-five Golan Heights U.N. Filipino peacekeepers managed to hold off an attack by Syrian rebels on Saturday, before a group of fellow Irish and Filipino UN peacekeepers managed to evacuate all UN troops out of the area in armored vehicles in a daring escape on Sunday night.
A second UN camp in the Golan Heights was also attacked over the weekend, with some 100 rebels trying to ram through the gates.
Rebels demanded the 40 Filipino peacekeepers on the base surrender, but the Filipino troops instead returned fire.
In a rare move of cooperation with the international community, Syrian government troops fired shells at rebel positions near the UN site in a bid to stop the UN camp from being overrun.
The battle for the camp raged for some seven hours before the Filipino troops fled the compound with their weapons under cover of darkness, hiked for two hours over chilly hills and linked up with other UN troops who then escorted them to safety.
Reports say an additional contingent of some 40 Fijian UN peacekeepers were taken hostage by rebels and their current fate is unknown.
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