UNITED NATIONS - The 44 UN peacekeepers detained Thursday in the Golan Heights are "safe and in good health," a UN spokesman told reporters here late Friday, quoting what he described as "credible sources."

"The United Nations has received assurances from credible sources that the 44 peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) who were taken from their position on the morning of Thursday, 28 August, are safe and in good health," the spokesman said in an emailed note to the press.

"UNDOF has not yet had direct contact with these peacekeepers," he said.

The 44 peacekeepers from the UNDOF, who are all from Fiji, were detained by armed elements of the Syrian opposition amid increased fighting in the area between Syrian government forces and armed groups.