UN condemns fighting by Syria and rebels in Golan Heights

UN condemns fighting by Syria and rebels in Golan Heights

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is condemning the fighting and use of heavy weapons by Syrian armed forces and opposition fighters in the area that has separated Syrian and Israel forces since 1974.

A resolution co-sponsored by Russia and the United States and adopted unanimously by the council on Monday calls on parties to the Syrian conflict to halt all military action in the area of separation. It warns that military activities in the zone can escalate Syrian-Israeli tensions.

The resolution extends the mandate of the 750-strong peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights until Dec. 31.

For nearly four decades U.N. monitors from the force have helped enforce a stable truce between Israel and Syria. But the Golan Heights has increasingly become a battlefield in the Syrian conflict, now in its fifth year.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-30