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UNTSO personnel have also been available at short notice to form the nucleus of other peacekeeping operations. The availability of UNTSO's military observers for almost immediate deployment after the Security Council had acted to create a new operation has been an enormous contributory factor to the success of those operations.
The military observers are un-armed and they carry out their jobs by observing and reporting violations of the agreements of ceasefire, disengagement etc. that are relevant to their area of operations. All military observers are seasoned officers of the rank of captain or major coming from all branches of service in their respective countries armed forces.
The military observers work in multi-national teams, so that any observations will always be confirmed by at least two observers from different nations, as a measure to ensure impartiality.
UNTSO currently provides military observers to three different UN missions in the area; Observer Group Lebanon (OGL), supporting UNIFIL in Southern Lebanon, Observer Group Golan (OGG) supporting UNDOF in the Golan Heights and Observer Group Egypt (OGE) in the Sinai Peninsula.
OGG, who has its headquarters co-located with UNDOF HQ in Camp Faouar in Syria, is split into two outstations; OGG-D (Observer Group Golan - Damascus) based in Damascus, Syria and OGG-T (Observer Group Golan - Tiberias) based in Tiberias, Israel. Each outstation mans a number of observation posts on each side of the Area of Separation (AOS) that was put in place as part of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Syria and Israel following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The military observers carry-out fortnightly inspections inside the Area of Limitations (AOL) to verify, that both sides adhere to the limitations on troop levels and military equipment within 10, 20 and 25 km zones from the AOS as prescribed by the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
OGL HQ are co-located with UNIFIL HQ in Naquora, Southern Lebanon. OGL mans four patrol bases along the "Blue Line" - a demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon.
OGE is based in Ismalia by the Suez Canal in Egypt. OGE conducts short and long-range patrols in the Sinai Peninsula.
Read more about this topic: United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
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