Russia to help UN with patrols along Syria-Israel frontier

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) with PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow. (AP/Pavel Golovkin, pool)

Russia has offered to help the UN patrol the Syrian-Israel border.

By: AP

The Russian military says its forces in Syria will help the UN peacekeepers fully restore their patrols along the frontier between Syria and the Israeli Golan Heights.

Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko said on Tuesday that the Russian military police have set up four checkpoints in the area and plan to bring their number to eight.

He told reporters the Russian military will secure the area and help clear mines left by militants to allow the peacekeepers to resume their operations.

The UN peacekeepers first deployed in the area in 1974 under a deal to separate Syrian and Israeli forces after Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 war, but they were driven away by Syrian militants in 2014. Russia-backed Syrian government forces have recently regained control of the area.

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