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Future of Golan Heights U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Doubt as Rebels Steal “Virtually Indestructible” Vehicles

by TheTower.org Staff |

Opposition forces battling the Bashar al-Assad regime have stolen at least two “virtually indestructible” U.N. vehicles in recent months from the U.N. Disengagement Force (UNDOF) along the Golan Heights. The acknowledgment of the thefts by UNDOF will renew speculation that Israel may have to act to reestablish stability amid the growing chaos along the border:

“The RG-31 Nyala is a South African-made, mine- and IED-resistant eight-metric-ton behemoth capable of carrying up to 10 men, and has a price tag of approximately $670,000, according to analyst estimates. According to a Canadian news report from 2005, the Nyala is “virtually indestructible” and is “designed to be able to resist two simultaneous blasts from anti-tank mines.” …

Professor Efraim Inbar, director of Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Stategic Studies, said that while the vehicles didn’t confer a game-changing strategic advantage to the Syrian rebels, they were a platform by which the Yarmouk Brigade could launch potentially deadly surprise attacks against IDF positions along the border.

Fighters from the Yarmouk Martyrs’ Brigade have repeatedly kidnapped UNDOF forces. Many of the nations contributing soliders to the mission have responded by threatening to withdraw their troops. Canada and Japan have already done so, and the Philippines and Austria have suggested that they may follow suit. A former UNDOF commander warned this weekd that the mission will collapse if Austria withdraws.

The EU’s decision earlier this week to lift the two-year arms embargo on Syria has further endangered the mission. Austria, again, voiced concerns that European peacekeepers would no longer be seen as neutral – and would be targeted for retaliation.

UNDOF’s collapse would heighten already severe concerns regarding a worsening power vacuum along the Syrian side of the Israeli-Syrian border. As U.N. peacekeepers and the Syrian army have withdrawn, the area has been filled in by hardline opposition elements, some of whom have committed to attacking Israel. Israeli officials have emphasized that they will act to ensure that the growing anarchy is not allowed to spill over into the Jewish state.

[Photo: MAx92 / Wiki Commons]

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