RFMF Commander says negotiations underway for release of Fijian soldiers detained in Syria

Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga confirmed that negotiations are underway for the release of the 43 Fijian soldiers who have been detained in Syria by an unknown group.

Speaking in a press conference earlier today, Brigadier General Tikoitoga stated that they have also received reliable information that the 43 Fijian soldiers are safe.

They are currently being detained at an unknown location.

Tikoitoga said that this is the first time that such an incident has occurred involving Fijian soldiers.

Tikoitoga added from his last conversation this morning with the Commanding Officers of the Fiji Contingent in Syria, they have confirmed that they are waiting for day break to locate where the soldiers have been detained.

The RFMF revealed that the incident took place in Al Quinetra, the area of Operation of the Fiji Contingent where 150 Al Qaeda personnel converged at the Company Headquarters demanding the Fijian soldiers to vacate the area in ten minutes.

Upon evacuating the area, our troops were not allowed to use UN vehicles to be shuttled to the Israeli side but were shuttled by using the Al Qaeda vehicles to an unknown location.

Tikoitoga said they have also received confirmation that there were no casualties.

CNN is reporting from Golan Heights that those holding the peacekeepers are members of the al Qaeda‑linked Al-Nusra Front, one of the groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The United Nations has said in a statement that it is making every effort to secure the release of the detained peacekeepers, and to restore the full freedom of movement of the force throughout its area of operation.

The U.N has said without elaborating that 81 UN peacekeepers from the Philippines were also "restricted to their positions" near villages in the area.

The Al-Nusra Front is a fierce rival to another Sunni Muslim extremist group in Syria, ISIS, which calls itself the "Islamic State" and has been fighting in Iraq.

Both Al-Nusra Front and ISIS have been fighting the Assad regime and each other in Syria, opposition groups have said, with ISIS gaining control of a large portion of northern and eastern Syria.

The UN said armed groups also detained U.N. peacekeepers in the area in March and May of 2013, but they eventually were released safely.

RFMF Commander on captured Fijian soldiers