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According to preliminary reports, 600 families were evacuated from Armenian-populated town of Kessab in Syria following the attacks by gunmen who entered the region from the Turkish border on March 22. The Armenian families have taken refuge in Latakia. 

“We do our best to help them. The Armenians have taken refuge in the Armenian church and Armenian organizations in Latakia, located about 50 km south of Kessab,” Bishop Armash Nalbandian, primate of the Armenian Church of Damascus, told Panorama.am.

“The people fled without taking anything with them – they have neither clothes nor first necessity items. Fortunately, there are no reports about victims. We should thank the administrative authorities of Kessab for evacuating them and taking to Latakia,” Armash Nalbandian said.

He noted that those Armenians who have relatives in Latakia have taken refuge in their homes. “First of all, we have organized humanitarian assistance: we are providing the refugee families with mattresses, blankets and household items.”

The fighting is underway in Kessab and no one knows what will be the outcome, Bishop Armash Nalbandian added.