Ethnic Armenians tell of flight from Kasab, their town in Syria

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http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-kasab-20140409,0,6300732.story



A rebel fighter is seen on a ridge, reportedly in Kasab, Syria, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. About 2,500 residents, most of them ethnic Armenians, fled Kasab recently as Islamist rebels advanced.

Ethnic Armenians tell of flight from Kasab, their town in Syria
By Patrick J. McDonnell
April 9, 2014, 5:30 a.m.

BEIRUT — They fled Kasab at daybreak, amid the clamor of artillery and word that Islamist rebels were advancing toward them from Turkey.

About 2,500 residents, most of them ethnic Armenians, gathered documents and what few possessions they could carry. They piled into cars and minibuses that carried them 40 miles down mountain roads to the government-held city of Latakia. Only some elderly remained behind, residents said.

"We escaped with the clothes on our back," said one of those who eventually made it to Lebanon.

Many had heard reports of atrocities committed in August by other rebels elsewhere in Latakia province. Armenian Christians have lived in Kasab since the days of the Ottoman Empire, but they feared for their lives if they remained.