Another group of U.N. soldiers - also from the Philippines - remained trapped by the Islamists who surrounded their positions on Thursday, and a gun battle was ongoing, the U.N. press office said.
The troops are part of UNDOF, a U.N. force that has monitored the disengagement zone between Israel and Syria since 1974, after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
A Reuters cameraman spotted 11 U.N. armoured vehicles returning to their base in Israeli-controlled territory about 12 hours after the peacekeepers came under fire at around 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Saturday.
"All 32 Filipino personnel from this position have been extricated and are now safe," the United Nations press office said in a statement issued in New York.
The remaining troops, at a separate border post, were still under mortar and heavy machine gun fire, the statement said.
"The U.N. peacekeepers returned fire and prevented the attackers from entering the position," it said. Officials in the Philippines have said there were a total of 72 soldiers trapped in the area.
Another 44 UNDOF peacekeepers, from Fiji, were detained by militants 8 km (5 miles) away from the Philippine troops on Thursday and remain missing.
UNDOF has 1,223 peacekeepers from six countries operating in the zone.
Last Update: Saturday, 30 August 2014 KSA 20:42 - GMT 17:42
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/08/30/U-N-Detained-peacekeepers-in-Syria-safe-.html
30/8/14
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