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Air strike on Syrian olive press kills, wounds dozens

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BEIRUT | Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:17am EST

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian military air strike killed and wounded dozens of people when it hit an olive oil press near the northern city of Idlib on Tuesday, activists said.

Activist Tareq Abdelhaq said at least 20 people were killed and 50 wounded in the attack, citing residents near the Abu Hilal olive oil press, 2 km (1.2 miles) west of Idlib city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it could only confirm five deaths.

Syria's northern provinces, including Idlib, have been subjected to heavy air assaults by government forces against rebels who have been fighting for 20 months to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Activists said it was unclear if there was any rebel target in the area and that the victims were civilians, but acknowledged there were opposition fighters in the area.

They said a jet fired two barrel bombs that hit the press, and that rebels gave medical treatment and helped evacuate victims.

The British-based Observatory, which has a network of activists across Syria, said that so far it has confirmed the deaths of five people, with five wounded.

"Beyond this I cannot give accurate information. Up to this point there have been problems reaching people in the area by telephone," said the group's head, Rami Abdelrahman.

Activist reports are difficult to verify as the government restricts access to foreign media outlets.

(Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Comments (2)
“Activist reports are difficult to verify as the government restricts access to foreign media outlets.”

Ahhh… no they are impossible to verify because they are 100% agenda driven statements. All journalists from their first day on the job know that when you get your information from opposition fighters and even worse, religious fanatics, the quality of that information is basically worthless.

The FAKE ‘observatory’, which is not a registered entity of any kind but merely an Islamist opposition website hosted by a single man with no journalism experience, (a front organization for militants):

1) Does not report soldiers killed by militants, until very recently.

2) Does not report civillians killed by militants, at all.

3) Does not report militants killed by soldiers.

But most importantly:

4) Reports all militants killed by soldiers as ‘civillians’, seeing as they have no status as combatants but are merely civillians who have picked up weapons – militants.

They are an Islamist propaganda front organization, and not recognized as a legitimate media organization by ANYONE!

That is why it is impossible to verify reuters… so you can stop the act now.

You lie like you breath air, compulsively.

Nov 27, 2012 8:26am EST  --  Report as abuse
MetalHead8 wrote:
Another tradgey in Syria

Nov 27, 2012 9:07am EST  --  Report as abuse
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