Report: At Least 20 Killed in Strike on North Syrian Olive Oil Factory

Locals Flee Into Turkey After Strike Causes Panic

by Jason Ditz, November 27, 2012

There was mass panic in the Idlib Province today after an air strike hit an olive oil factory packed with farmers. Preliminary reports are that at least 20 were killed in the attack, though lack of independent press on the ground makes this impossible to confirm as of yet.

The factory, just outside the provincial capital, was crowded today because it is one of the few olive pressing factories still operating in the middle of the ongoing civil war, and this is the season for olive harvests.

Though rebels insisted that the attack was a massacre seemingly just for massacre’s sake, it was unclear if the factory was the intended target, and analysts say it was likely a misfire that caused the strike.

In the meantime, the attack renewed the mass exodus of civilians from Idlib and other northern provinces, with reports of several hundred civilians lined up at the border hoping to flee into Turkey. Many refugees have fled the war into Turkey and other nations, and with no end in sight the numbers just keep growing.

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