Filipino peacekeepers at golan trade fire with syrian rebels

**IMm29** · September 5th, 2014 01:34 PM

Iwan daw sa sahig sabay walk out. Hehehe

**gearhead000** · September 5th, 2014 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by falken

How the hell could you surrender without handing over your weapons?!

Posted via Tsikot Mobile App

Yeah, and also.... how can they expect the soldiers not to shoot, and not be overrun and be taken hostage? Marami nga siguro na-Singhot na katol. LOL!

**Monseratto** · September 5th, 2014 03:13 PM

Duwag daw...

UNDOF commander: Filipinos' defiance unprofessional
By Camille Diola (philstar.com) | Updated September 4, 2014 - 2:43pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Indian commander of the United Nations' (UN) peacekeeping force broke his silence on the Philippine military's accusations that he misguidedly ordered besieged Filipino troops to surrender their arms to rebels in Golan Heights over the weekend.

In an interview with a Noida-based newspaper, UN Disengagement Observer Force Commander Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha criticized the defiance of the 40 trapped Filipino peacekeepers as "non-professional."

Singha said the Filipinos' resistance further compromised the situation of the Fijian peacekeepers earlier abducted by the Syrian rebels affiliated with al-Qaeda.

"The non-professional actions of the Filipino troops have endangered the lives of the Fijian soldiers," Singha told the India Times in a report published Thursday (Manila time).

"They have defied orders at a time when we had negotiated a ceasefire with the rebels to ensure that all troops in the conflict area could exit," he added.

The military leader's statement coincided with the UN's denial that the order was issued. The organization said, however, that it backs Singha's decisions during the siege and commended him for sending a quick reaction force to extract trapped men.

Singha, meanwhile, called what the Armed Forces of the Philippines dubbed the "greatest escape" of 40 troops from Position 68 nothing but an "act of cowardice."

"The higher UN echelon as well as the Indian Army agrees with me that the decision was correct. It is an act of cowardice to desert posts especially when a delicate ceasefire was in place," he said.

He also insisted that the troops broke the chain of command and overstepped the UN leadership's authority when their safety and the release of the hostages were still being negotiated for.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday called on "countries with influence" to press the insurgents to release the peacekeepers from Fiji abducted last week.

The council also welcomed the news that all Filipinos were safe and commended the UN peacekeeping mission's quick reaction force for extracting them to safety.

with reports from AP

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...unprofessional

**falken** · September 5th, 2014 04:21 PM

^ Singha is an incompetent fool.

**badkuk** · September 5th, 2014 05:10 PM

First he wanted the Filipino peacekeepers to surrender; who's the coward in this picture?

Then, he gets mad again when they escaped. That seems to be in line with the duties of being a soldier, i.e. to not add to the list of hostages the rebels already have.

Whose side is he on again?

**IMm29** · September 5th, 2014 05:12 PM

Shempre yung isang general kampi sa kanya. Kababayan nya.

**Monty** · September 5th, 2014 05:34 PM

Ano kayang rules of engagement ang ginamit ng commander na yun?

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**Syuryuken** · September 5th, 2014 07:41 PM

ceasefire tapos umaatake yung mga insurgents abay kalokohang malaki kung di mo ipagtatanggol sarili mo

**Ry_Tower** · September 6th, 2014 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by Syuryuken

ceasefire tapos umaatake yung mga insurgents abay kalokohang malaki kung di mo ipagtatanggol sarili mo

When the enemy started firing, that is when the ceasefire ends. Thus any soldier, in his right frame of mind, should indeed fight or escape if fighting is futile.

Buwisit na undof commander yan.

**Monseratto** · September 6th, 2014 10:57 AM

Buti di na tayo naipit at nadagdagan ng sakit ulo...

Al-Nusra Front threatens to try UN Fijian peacekeepers
WRITERSLazar Berman

Syrian al-Qaeda branch al-Nusra Front threatened to try 45 UN peacekeepers from Fiji abducted last week in the Golan Heights.

!According to the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat,
the jihadist group said it would try the soldiers according to Sharia law.

The report added that there has been no progress in talks to release the Fijians.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council called on “countries with influence” to press the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents to release the peacekeepers.

A press statement approved by all 15 council members, after a briefing by UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, again demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the Fijian peacekeepers.

Heavy clashes have raged in the Golan Heights since Syrian rebels captured a border crossing between Syria and Israel near the abandoned town of Quneitra last Wednesday.

Ladsous told reporters the peacekeepers have shown “steadfastness and courage” and said the UN is working to obtain the swift and unconditional release of the Fijians.

“We are sparing no effort to obtain the release of the detained peacekeepers,” he said, but gave no details, stressing the importance of “discretion.”

Fiji commander Brig. Gen. Mosese Tikoitoga said Tuesday that the Nusra Front has made three demands for the release of the peacekeepers: It wants to be taken off the UN terrorist list; it demands that humanitarian aid be delivered to parts of the Syrian capital of Damascus; and it calls for compensation for three of its fighters who, it claims, were killed in a shootout with UN officers.

The Nusra Front accused the UN of doing nothing to help the Syrian people since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. It said the Fijians were seized in retaliation for the UN’s ignoring “the daily shedding of the Muslims’ blood in Syria” and even colluding with Assad’s army “to facilitate its movement to strike the vulnerable Muslims” through a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

UNDOF was established in May 1974 following intensified firing on the Israel-Syria border after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, and Syria has campaigned for decades for return of the land. For nearly four decades, the UN monitors helped enforce a stable truce between Israel and Syria, but the Golan Heights has increasingly become a battlefield in the more than three-year-old Syrian conflict.

The mission currently has troops from six countries: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines. A number of countries have withdrawn their peacekeepers due to the escalating violence.

AP contributed to this report.

Read more: Al-Nusra Front threatens to try UN Fijian peacekeepers | The Times of Israel Al-Nusra Front threatens to try UN Fijian peacekeepers | The Times of Israel
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