Syria rebels free UN peacekeepers

The United Nations said all 45 Fijian peacekeepers held captive by the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front were released on Thursday in the Syrian-controlled sector of the Golan Heights.

"We can confirm they have been released," said the U.N. secretary general's deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq. Haq said the Fijians were freed at the Quneitra crossing point and were expected to cross into Israel.

The U.N. said the peacekeepers are in good condition and will be transferred to Camp Foar for medical assessment.

On Wednesday the rebel group posted on its Twitter and YouTube accounts a video in which the hostages said they expected to be freed soon.

The peacekeepers were captured at their post in August, about 5 miles away from the 70 Philippine troops who were rescued following an attack on their post on the Syrian side of the border.

Syria's three-year civil war reached the frontier with Israeli-controlled territory last month, when rebel fighters overran a crossing point in the line that has separated Israelis from Syrians in the Golan Heights since a 1973 war. Syria and Israel technically remain at war.

The U.N. force monitors the area of separation, a narrow strip of land running about 43.5 miles from Mount Hermon on the Lebanese border to the Yarmouk River frontier with Jordan. It comprises 1,223 soldiers from Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines.

Austria, Japan and Croatia have all pulled their troops out of the monitoring force due to the deteriorating security situation and spillover from the Syrian war.

Officials in Qatar said Fiji had formally requested its assistance in freeing the hostages. U.S. officials have said that Qatar played a critical role in persuading the Nusra Front last month to free American journalist Peter Theo Curtis, whom the front had been holding hostage since 2012.

Al Jazeera and wire services