45 Fijian peacekeepers detained by militants in the Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border have been released at 14:30 local time, a United Nations (UN) Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced on September 11.

At a press briefing he noted that subsequently, "the peacekeepers crossed the broader side of position 37 B and are currently at camp 4 undergoing medical attention. We understand that they are in good condition."

Asked whether they would go back to serve in the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), Dujarric said that the 45 peacekeepers are likely to "return home, and I would hope they would be swapped out by new troops from Fiji."

Asked whether ransom was paid, he said that "no demands were made and no concessions were made."

The Fijian peacekeepers were detained last month during clashes between rebels and Syrian government forces in the Golan Heights.

Kidnapped

Al Jazerra English website reported that the Fijians were kidnapped last month by the Nusra Front, an group battling the Syrian army, after the militants overran a crossing point in the so-called disengagement zone that the UN peacekeeping mission known as UNDOF has monitored since 1974.

Syria's three-year civil war reached the frontier with Israeli-controlled territory last month when rebel fighters overran a crossing point in the line that has separated Israelis from Syrians in the Golan Heights since a 1973 war.

The UN force monitors the area of separation, a narrow strip of land running about 70km from Mount Hermon on the Lebanese border to the Yarmouk River frontier with Jordan.

It comprises 1,223 soldiers from Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines.

Austria, Japan and Croatia have all pulled their troops out of the monitoring force due to the deteriorating security situation and spillover from the Syrian war.

Qatar, one country in the Middle East thought by the US to have influence with the armed rebel group, said Fiji had formally requested its assistance in freeing the hostages.

The Israel military has comfirmed that the Fijian soldiers had crossed into Israeli-held territory after their release.