Opposition: Syria School Bombing Kills 25 Kids

As another chemical weapons deadline comes and goes
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2014 8:48 AM CDT
Opposition: Syria School Bombing Kills 25 Kids
This photo, via anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center, shows people carrying their belongings from a building hit by a Syrian government airstrike in Aleppo, Monday, April 28, 2014.   (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)

Twenty-five children were killed when an elementary school in Syria's largest city was bombed today, opposition activists say. Regime forces dropped barrel bombs—barrels containing a combination of explosives and items like nails—in the opposition stronghold of Aleppo, according to an opposition group; CNN describes gruesome video but can't verify it. The attack wasn't mentioned in state-run news, CNN notes. In other news from Syria:

  • Largely pro-government locations have also been targeted in recent attacks, with 50 killed in civilian areas yesterday, the New York Times reports. Elections are due June 3, but whether they can occur alongside the violence is an open question, the Times notes. Opposition figures have said Bashar al-Assad's victory is a foregone conclusion anyway.
  • Meanwhile, the international Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says it will soon head to Syria following reported chlorine gas attacks, al Jazeera reports. As of Sunday, the government has missed the due date to get rid of its entire chemical weapons stock; it still holds 8% of the weapons it has declared, ABC News reports. "We’ve never taken the Assad regime at its word, and we will continue to approach this process with our eyes wide open," says a US state department rep.
(More Syria stories.)

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