Syrian troops, rebels clash in south near area where opposition gunmen took UN peacekeepers
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Syrian activists say new clashes have erupted between government troops and rebels near an area where gunmen fighting President Bashar Assad's forces abducted 21 U.N. peacekeepers.
Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the army is battling opposition fighters in the southern province of Daraa, the birthplace of the 2-year-old revolt against Assad.
Thursday's fighting is concentrated on the edge of the Syrian village of Jamlah, where gunmen took hostage 21 U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines on Wednesday.
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The peacekeepers patrol the Israel-Syria cease-fire zone in the Golan Heights. They were abducted allegedly while they were near Jamlah.
In an online video, a man identified as a spokesman for the Martyrs of Yarmouk Brigades said his group will hold the peacekeepers until Assad's forces withdraw from Jamlah.