U.N. peacekeepers in Golan freed

The 45 U.N. peacekeepers seized in the Golan Heights have been freed and are in good condition, the United Nations said Thursday.

The peacekeepers were captured two weeks ago by the al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate, in the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied territory, a day after rebels seized control of a border crossing between the two.

The personnel were handed over to the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force. A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said discussions had been ongoing with captors by "various parties" at "various levels" to obtain the peacekeepers' release.

The U.N. Disengagement Observer Force has overseen a buffer zone in the Golan Heights since 1974 to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Syria. Fighting from Syria's civil war spilled over into the buffer zone last week.

The al-Nusra Front used civilian cars to take the peacekeepers to a U.N. base on the Syrian side of the border, a CNN source said, and the troops walked about 200 meters to the Israeli-occupied Golan side. U.N. vehicles then took the troops to the U.N. observer force command center, the source said.