Philippines won\\\'t send troops to unclear mission

The Philippine president said Wednesday his government would no longer deploy peacekeepers in ‘impossible’ missions like the Golan Heights, where Filipino forces were attacked by Syrian insurgents. President Benigno Aquino III said hundreds of Filipino peacekeepers were tasked to guard a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israel and Syria. But when the Syrian civil war spilled over and Islamic militants started attacking the Filipinos and other peacekeepers, their mission became unclear and highly dangerous. The Philippines decided to withdraw the peacekeepers ahead of schedule, ending a 5-year presence in the increasingly volatile Golan Heights. Philippine military officials also feuded with the head of the UN peacekeeping force over his handling of a standoff between Syrian rebels and outnumbered Filipino peacekeepers, who fought back and finally escaped after reportedly refusing his order to surrender, according to AP.