BERLIN (AP) - Austria’s defense minister is ordering an investigation into whether the country’s peacekeepers allowed Syrian police to drive into a fatal ambush in the Golan Heights six years ago.
Austrian weekly Der Falter published a leaked video Friday that was apparently filmed by the United Nations peacekeepers from Austria in September 2012 and shows Syrian smugglers ambush the police.
The Austrian soldiers are clearly heard discussing whether to warn the officers, but then letting them pass.
In a statement, the defense ministry said it was only made aware of the “dimension of the incident” by the images and video leaked to Falter.
Defense Minister Mario Kunasek says “the incidents will have to be meticulously and completely cleared up.”
Austria’s peacekeeping role on the border between Syria and Israel ended in 2013.
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