Kurdish groups from Iraq and three neighbouring countries are putting aside old rivalries to battle jihadist militants, but there are cracks in this newly-forged unity and it may not last.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi vowed to legally pursue a number of protesters who set ablaze a flag for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The minister said in a statement issued by his press office that the ISIL flag has the first pillar of Islam (Ashahada) written on it, which is the testimony that there is no God except for Allah and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.

Philippine U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights clashed with Syrian rebels Saturday, Defence Minister Voltaire Gazmin said in Manila.

U.N. officials were locked in negotiations on Friday to win the release of 44 peacekeepers held by Syrian rebels who also besieged 72 other blue helmets in the Golan Heights.

Syrian armed fighters, including some linked to the al-Qaida affiliate Al-Nusra Front, stormed a Golan Heights crossing on Wednesday, taking 44 troops from Fiji.

A huge fire erupted on Friday afternoon in Sahel al-Fayda area on the outskirts of the Bekaa city of Zahle, setting several refugee tents ablaze.

The fire set ablaze “more than 70 tents,” LBCI television reported, adding that civil defense forces rushed to the scene to contain the flames.

Syrian government forces on Friday bombarded the Jubar eastern district of Damascus in a fierce offensive aimed at wresting control of the key sector back from rebels, multiple reports said.

Jubar has been in insurgent hands for a year, and is strategic because it provides a gateway to the center of the capital.

Two Hizbullah members were killed on Thursday in Syria's al-Qalamun region in clashes with opposition forces battling the Damascus regime including al-Nusra Front fighters, an NGO reported on Friday.

"Two Hizbullah members were killed yesterday and six others were injured” during clashes against fighters of Islamic brigades and al-Nusra Front in al-Qalamun, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

The Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie called Friday for a new bid to bring peace to Syria which she said was destabilizing the whole region and bringing misery to millions.

In an emotional plea, the U.N. goodwill ambassador for refugees, who married her long-term partner Brad Pitt in a secret ceremony at their chateau in the south of France last week, said, "Three million refugees is not just another statistic. It is a searing indictment of our collective failure to end the war in Syria."

Army troops clashed on Friday with an armed group in the Wadi Hmayyed region of the northeastern border town in Arsal, and managed to detain two gunmen.

Army forces located a Chevrolet car in the Wadi Hmayyed heights area in which there were three gunmen, the military institution in a communique.

Talks were underway Friday to release 43 Fijian peacekeepers taken hostage by Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights, the Pacific nation's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said.

Bainimarama said the peacekeepers were believed to be safe and his government was working closely with the United Nations to secure their release.