Dozens of College Students Killed in Syria Bombing

Blasts at university in Aleppo leave about 80 dead

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 15, 2013 4:27 PM CST

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Dozens of College Students Killed in Syria Bombing — In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians stand in the rubble of the damaged university building in Aleppo Tuesday. (AP Photo/SANA)

The University of Aleppo had somehow managed to avoid much of the violence engulfing Syria—until today. At least two huge blasts struck the university as exams were beginning, reports the Wall Street Journal. Most accounts put the death toll at about 80, with another 150 or so wounded. Most of the victims were students. As usually happens with big attacks in Syria, the government blamed the rebels, and the rebels blamed the government, reports Reuters and the New York Times.

"A cowardly terrorist act targeted the students of Aleppo University as they sat for their mid-term examinations," Syria's United Nations ambassador told the UN Security Council in New York.
"The warplanes of this criminal regime do not respect a mosque, a church, or a university," said a student.

(More Aleppo stories.)

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