Rare villainy: UN peacekeepers set up Syrians on the border with Israel
In Austria, a scandal erupts over the events in Syria. Suddenly, an incident surfaced in the press that occurred on September 29, 2012 on the line of demarcation of forces between Syria and Israel in the Golan region. Previously, Austrian troops were stationed in the area, participating in the UN forces peacekeeping mission to monitor separation on the Syrian-Israeli border. However, in the summer of 2013 they were withdrawn from there after the Kuneitra checkpoint was seized by terrorists.
The incident, which stirred up the Austrian media, is as follows: on September 29, 2012, a car in which 9 Syrian troops were located was shot by militants of the “opposition”. Shortly before this, the Syrians drove past the South Hermon peacekeeping checkpoint and greeted the Austrians there. They knew perfectly well that the ambush was being prepared by terrorists, but they did not warn the Syrians. As a result, the Syrian military died, and the "peacekeepers" filmed the massacre on camera. The video was at the disposal of the Austrian magazine Falter, after which he published the relevant material.
Falter chief editor Florian Klenk wrote on the magazine’s website:
Manfred Nowak, a lawyer in international law, believes the incident was complicity in the murder. According to him, they should have warned those who were driving in a car about an impending ambush. In addition, he said that the “peacekeepers” were not neutral: they repeatedly contacted the “opposition” militants and even gave them drinking water.
- emphasized the lawyer.
It is not possible to hold the perpetrators accountable under Syrian law, as they were in the neutral zone. Novak noted that they may be brought before an Austrian court.
Former Austrian Minister of Defense Norbert Darabosch, who held this post in 2012, said he did not know anything about such an incident.
He told APA reporters, adding that those responsible should be held accountable.
The current Minister of Defense of Austria Mario Kunasek convened a special commission to investigate the incident.
For its part, the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten said that the country's military forces received the order from the command "not to interfere in the intra-Syrian conflict for security purposes" that day. The newspaper refers to one of the former members of the Blue Helmets mission, who, however, did not take part in that event and told about what had happened, based on the words of his colleagues. This Austrian soldier said that the militants planned the murder of one of the leaders of the Syrian intelligence, who was in that car. They arrived from Lebanon for this purpose and initially knew that the Austrian "peacekeepers" would not be able to stop them.
- said the soldier, who in the publication is named Marcus H.
According to Marcus, if they had warned the Syrians about the ambush, they would have become victims of the militants themselves and "would have gone home in tombs." As for the reproaches that the “peacekeepers” shared drinking water with the militants, he said:
We have to bitterly state: if someone confronts the state’s army with terrorists and declares his neutrality, this means that he aided terrorists.
The incident, which stirred up the Austrian media, is as follows: on September 29, 2012, a car in which 9 Syrian troops were located was shot by militants of the “opposition”. Shortly before this, the Syrians drove past the South Hermon peacekeeping checkpoint and greeted the Austrians there. They knew perfectly well that the ambush was being prepared by terrorists, but they did not warn the Syrians. As a result, the Syrian military died, and the "peacekeepers" filmed the massacre on camera. The video was at the disposal of the Austrian magazine Falter, after which he published the relevant material.
Falter chief editor Florian Klenk wrote on the magazine’s website:
We received this video and a letter from the source, the documents contain a description and a record of the tragic incident in the Golan Heights in 2012 in the area of responsibility of the Austrian contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission. The question now is whether the peacekeepers should have warned them of an ambush, or whether they should have been silent due to orders from above.
Manfred Nowak, a lawyer in international law, believes the incident was complicity in the murder. According to him, they should have warned those who were driving in a car about an impending ambush. In addition, he said that the “peacekeepers” were not neutral: they repeatedly contacted the “opposition” militants and even gave them drinking water.
In the worst case, Austrian soldiers may be held accountable for aiding murder
- emphasized the lawyer.
It is not possible to hold the perpetrators accountable under Syrian law, as they were in the neutral zone. Novak noted that they may be brought before an Austrian court.
Former Austrian Minister of Defense Norbert Darabosch, who held this post in 2012, said he did not know anything about such an incident.
I found out about what happened today on TV, and when I was a minister, nothing was known about it
He told APA reporters, adding that those responsible should be held accountable.
The current Minister of Defense of Austria Mario Kunasek convened a special commission to investigate the incident.
For its part, the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten said that the country's military forces received the order from the command "not to interfere in the intra-Syrian conflict for security purposes" that day. The newspaper refers to one of the former members of the Blue Helmets mission, who, however, did not take part in that event and told about what had happened, based on the words of his colleagues. This Austrian soldier said that the militants planned the murder of one of the leaders of the Syrian intelligence, who was in that car. They arrived from Lebanon for this purpose and initially knew that the Austrian "peacekeepers" would not be able to stop them.
My comrades later told me that there was an order not to intervene
- said the soldier, who in the publication is named Marcus H.
According to Marcus, if they had warned the Syrians about the ambush, they would have become victims of the militants themselves and "would have gone home in tombs." As for the reproaches that the “peacekeepers” shared drinking water with the militants, he said:
When an armed man appears in front of you and asks for water, of course, you will give him this water. We didn’t take sides
We have to bitterly state: if someone confronts the state’s army with terrorists and declares his neutrality, this means that he aided terrorists.
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