- Title: GOLAN HEIGHTS-FIGHTING Fighting on Syrian side of Golan Heights border rages on
- Date: 28th August 2014
- Summary: GOLAN HEIGHTS, SYRIA (AS SEEN FROM ISRAEL SIDE) (AUGUST 28, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE BILLOWING DUE TO FIGHTING IN SYRIA GOLAN HEIGHTS (AUGUST 28, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF QUNEITRA CROSSING BETWEEN ISRAEL AND SYRIA, AS SEEN FROM ISRAEL'S SIDE CLOSED GATE VARIOUS OF UNITED NATION BASE IN THE BORDER BETWEEN ISRAEL AND SYRIA UNITED NATIONS OBSERVERS OFFICES AT QUNEI
- Embargoed: 12th September 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACGWF6VCJEI6ARKPCZ4R2L2NK4
- Story Text: Al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front and other Islamist fighters were engaged in fighting with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad close to the line dividing Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday (August 28), a day after they took control of a nearby border crossing.
The fighters, who have vowed to "liberate" the area, captured the Quneitra post on the Syrian side after fierce clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The organisation gathers information from all sides in the Syrian war.
The crossing is monitored by the United Nations, which oversees traffic between the two enemy countries but the distance between the two warring adversaries' positions is some 200 metres (220 yards).
During the fighting, two Israelis were wounded by stray bullets, a soldier and a civilian, both in the Golan Heights. Israel responded with artillery fire at two Syrian army positions, the Israeli military said. It was the latest spillover of violence from the three-year conflict.
Stephane Dujarric, a U.N. spokeswoman, said the organisation's peacekeepers could not confirm whether the rebels had seized the crossing, "as fighting is ongoing" at one of its gates.
Dujarric reported "heavy fighting between the Syrian armed forces and armed members of the opposition" in the Quneitra area adding that several mortars struck near U.N. positions near the peacekeepers' base, but that they took shelter apparently avoiding casualties.
She said the commander of peacekeepers there known as the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was in touch with Syria and the Israeli military urging both to "exercise restraint and prevent an escalation of the situation."
Shelling from the Syrian civil war has occasionally reached into the Israeli-controlled Golan, occasionally causing injuries and damage to soldiers and civilians. Israel has said the firing has sometimes been deliberately aimed at its troops.
Israel captured the western part of the strategic plateau from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it, a move that is not internationally recognised.
While the Syrian army has a presence on the Golan, some areas are controlled by rebels fighting to topple Assad, including al Qaeda-inspired militants hostile to the Jewish state.
Rebels last year briefly took the Quneitra border crossing with Israel and now control many villages in the area.
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