An international peace envoy to Syria says Syrian rebels have freed 21 U.N. peacekeepers and have handed them to Jordanian authorities.
Mokhtar Lamani, the Damascus representative of the new U.N.-Arab League peace envoy to Syria, says the peacekeepers crossed into Jordan on Saturday afternoon.
The peacekeepers, all Filipinos, were seized Wednesday by Syrian rebels who initially said they would only free the hostages if Syrian regime forces withdraw from the area. They were being held in the village of Jamlah, near the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Two films showed giants plumes of smoke rising out of what was said to be the neighbourhood of Daraya, and a fire said to be in the area of Jobar in the capital.
Two more videos claim to show shelling and gunfire in the city of Homs.
The footage comes as the United Nations refugee agency estimates the number of people fleeing the country has passed the one-million mark.
Syrians started trickling out of the country nearly two years ago when President Bashar al-Assad's forces shot at pro-democracy protests inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere.
The uprising has since turned into an increasingly sectarian struggle between armed rebels and government soldiers and militias, with an estimated 70,000 people killed.
Mokhtar Lamani, the Damascus representative of the new U.N.-Arab League peace envoy to Syria, says the peacekeepers crossed into Jordan on Saturday afternoon.
The peacekeepers, all Filipinos, were seized Wednesday by Syrian rebels who initially said they would only free the hostages if Syrian regime forces withdraw from the area. They were being held in the village of Jamlah, near the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Two films showed giants plumes of smoke rising out of what was said to be the neighbourhood of Daraya, and a fire said to be in the area of Jobar in the capital.
Two more videos claim to show shelling and gunfire in the city of Homs.
The footage comes as the United Nations refugee agency estimates the number of people fleeing the country has passed the one-million mark.
Syrians started trickling out of the country nearly two years ago when President Bashar al-Assad's forces shot at pro-democracy protests inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere.
The uprising has since turned into an increasingly sectarian struggle between armed rebels and government soldiers and militias, with an estimated 70,000 people killed.
Source : ITN, GlobalNation
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