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| UNESCO says the citadel is of “outstanding universal value” [Credit: Daily Star] |
One photograph distributed by the group appeared to show damage to the citadel’s entrance.
“The way in which the shell hit the main entrance of the fortress and broke the marble panel bearing its name suggests that the Syrian regime intentionally targeted the site,” the SNC charged.
“Only regime loyalists have the kind of shell that hit.”
Aleppo’s old city has been listed by the U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a World Heritage Site since 1986.
The listing says that the 13th-century citadel, 12th-century Great Mosque and 17th-century Islamic schools, palaces, caravanserais and bathhouses are of “outstanding universal value.”
“The monumental citadel of Aleppo, rising above the souks, mosques and madrasas of the old walled city, is testament to Arab military might from the 12th to the 14th centuries,” it says.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the opposition’s claim of damage to the citadel.
The Syrian army has shelled the area around the fortress several times in recent days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Source: The Daily Star [August 11, 2012]