31 Killed in Missile Strike on Syria’s Aleppo, Including 14 Children

Rocket Destroyed 'Entire Neighborhood' in Poor District

by Jason Ditz, February 19, 2013

A surface-to-surface missile struck the Jabal Badro neighborhood in the contested north Syrian city of Aleppo Monday, killing at least 31 people including 14 children, according to reports from rebels.

The neighborhood is said to be a particularly poor one, with a lot of ramshackle housing, and the single strike was enough to knock down several buildings in the immediate vicinity.

Though missiles are overwhelmingly in the regime arsenal, it isn’t clear who fired this particular one, or what they were actually aiming at. Presumably, the missile was not aimed at the random neighborhood.

Aleppo is Syria’s largest city, as well as its industrial and financial capital. The city has been violently contested for months, with rebels and regime each holding numerous neighborhoods and constantly fighting over territory between them. This has ground life in the city to a virtual halt, and while both sides are predicting imminent victory, they have been doing so for month now with no sign of a major shift in power.

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