18 civilians die as missiles hit Aleppo

BEIRUT // A missile fired by Syrian forces killed at least 18 civilians yesterday in a residential neighbourhood of the old quarter of Aleppo, a monitoring group said. The news came as a Spanish journalism association said three Spanish journalists had gone missing in the city. The Spanish Federation of Journalists identified the three freelancers as Antonio Pampliega, Jose Manuel Lopez and Angel Sastre, and said that they had not been heard from for several days.

Meanwhile, Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that the missile fired by Syrian forces had struck people while they were still inside their homes in the district of Maghayir.

“It killed 18 civilians, including one child, and wounded dozens of others,” said Mr Abdel Rahman.

“There are many people still stuck in the rubble and ambulances are going back and forth transporting people.” More than 35 homes were destroyed, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Running water, the Observatory said, had been restored in Aleppo yesterday after supplies had been cut off for more than three weeks.

It was apparently restored after an understanding between the regime and Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat Al Nusra.

The affiliate, which controls the pumping station in a rebel-held district, had cut off supplies to pressure the government to restore electricity to areas under its control.

The rebels turned the water back on after the regime caved in and restored the electricity supplies, the Observatory said.