Syrian rebels kidnap U.N. peacekeepers

More than 40 United Nations Peacekeepers have been kidnapped by an armed group in Syria, according to various media reports.

The New York Times and Reuters have put the number of kidnapped peacekeepers at 43. Reuters says that the hostages are primarily from the Philippines and Fiji. Other members of the U.N. force hail from India, Ireland, Nepal, and the Netherlands, according to the Times. 

The unit they were a part of was assigned to the Golan Heights, a contested area that belonged to Syria but was taken by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967. The heights are under Israeli military control, but the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force is stationed in the area to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Syria over the contested territory. Both nations are technically still at war over the matter.

Neither the Times nor Reuters have been able to identify who exactly was behind the kidnapping. A number of Islamist terrorist groups operate throughout Syria. The most formidable of these is the Islamic State, although the al Qaida aligned Nusra Front is also a major player in the Syrian Civil War against the government of Bashar al Assad.

Rebel forces recently captured the Syrian border crossing on the Golan Heights, according to a different Times report. The rebels were a coalition of groups, so it is not quite clear who may have kidnapped the U.N. troops, although the Nusra Front has been said to be among that group who took control of the border crossing.

In addition to the kidnapped troops, more than 80 other members of the U.N. force have been pinned down and are unable to move or flee the area, according to both Reuters and the Times.