Firefight erupts in Golan; peacekeepers still not found

Syrian troops and Islamist rebels battled close to the armistice line with Israel in the Golan Heights September 1, as the UN pressed efforts to free 44 Fijian peacekeepers held by the insurgents. Several mortar rounds struck on the edges of the ceasefire line as the combatants exchanged rocket, mortar and tank fire near the Quneitra crossing, which Al-Qaeda-linked rebels seized last week. The rebels abducted Fijian peacekeepers when they overran Quneitra. The Fijians were “safe” but their whereabouts uncertain, a military official said, indicating there was contact with the group that was holding them.

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