Aleppo campus attack casualties rise to 87
(01-16 19:16)
Universities were closed across Syria today to mark a day of mourning called after twin blasts tore through an Aleppo campus while students were writing exams, killing at least 87 people.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warned that the toll from yesterday's blasts in Syria's northern commercial capital could rise beyond 100, making it one of the bloodiest attacks in Syria's 22-month conflict, AFP reports.
Opposition activists said government jets had carried out an air strike on the campus, but a military official said ground-to-air missiles fired by rebels had fallen short.
The Local Coordination Committees, a network of grassroots activists, said the timing of the attack showed that the blasts were “part of a systematic plan to inflict as many casualties as possible in the university.’
The Observatory updated its earlier toll of 82 people dead.
“The number of people killed in twin blasts on Tuesday has risen to 87,’’ it said.
“That number is likely to rise to 100 as body parts continue to be identified,’’ the Britain-based monitoring group said, adding that 150 people were wounded, some of them critically.
Immediately after the Aleppo University blast, the education minister called for a nationwide day of mourning.
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