BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian antigovernment activists said Tuesday that an army rocket had leveled several buildings in a rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo, killing at least 19 people and possibly leaving dozens more buried under rubble. The attack appeared to cause one of the worst civilian tolls in the embattled city since its university was hit in a multiple bombing a month ago.
News of the Aleppo rocket attack came as activists also reported that at least two mortar rounds had exploded near President Bashar al-Assad’s Tishreen Palace in Damascus. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, and it was not known if Mr. Assad had been there at the time. The palace, surrounded by a park, is in an upscale area that has largely been insulated from the insurgency and is situated less than a mile from the main presidential palace, on a plateau overlooking the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based anti-Assad group with a network of sources inside Syria, described the Aleppo rocket as a “surface-to-surface missile” that slammed into the Jabal Badro neighborhood late on Monday, and said at least six children and three women were among the victims. A witness in Aleppo was quoted by Reuters as saying that the attack felled three buildings and that survivors were digging up bodies.
Syria’s state-run news media did not immediately report the rocket attack, and it was impossible to independently corroborate the details provided by the anti-Assad activists. But the attack appeared to be one of the deadliest in the city since more than 80 people were killed and hundreds were wounded on Jan. 15 in a multiple bombing of Aleppo University as students were taking exams. Although rebels and the government accused each other of responsibility for the university attack, video footage of the immediate aftermath suggested that it had involved a missile or missiles fired by the Syrian military.
The United Nations has estimated that nearly 70,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, which began as a peaceful uprising against Mr. Assad in March 2011. The alliance of rebel groups fighting to oust Mr. Assad has claimed a series of strategic advances in recent weeks, but Mr. Assad contends that his side is winning.
On Monday, United Nations human rights investigators reported that violence in the country had worsened in the six-month period ending in mid-January. Carla del Ponte, a former war crimes prosecutor and a member of the panel responsible for chronicling rights violations in Syria, called on the Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court so that those responsible for atrocities in the conflict, from the government and from the insurgent side, could be held to account.
Syrian Army Rocket Kills 19 and Levels Buildings in Aleppo, Rebels Say
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Syrian Army Rocket Kills 19 and Levels Buildings in Aleppo, Rebels Say
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Syrian Army Rocket Kills 19 and Levels Buildings in Aleppo, Rebels Say
