Edited sentence: According to refuges from the Latakia offensive, there had always been a fear Turkey would attacked them ever since.Afterward, several Armenians (mostly elderly) were taken hostage, the town’s three Armenian churches were desecrated, local residences were pillaged, and the town and surrounding villages were occupied.At least 11 civilians were killed in the attack.Most of the population of Kessab was forced to flee to neighboring Basit and Latakia.The 2014 Latakia offensive marked the third time in the past century the Armenians of Kessab had been forced from their homes by Turkish aggression, the former events being the Hamidian massacres and the Armenian Genocide, in both of which thousands from the town were massacred.The Turkish government is reportedly waiting until April 24, the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, to release the hostages in order to show the world that they assisted the Armenians.The hostages were taken to Vakifli in Turkey.This adds several thousand to the 9 million people internally and externally displaced by the Syrian government's bombing campaigns