Syrian daily: Rebel attack killed 115 policemen

[March 04, 2013]  BEIRUT (AP) -- A pro-government Syrian newspaper says opposition fighters have killed 115 policemen and wounded 50 in a battle over a police academy in the country's north.

The daily Al-Watan reported on Monday that "terrorists committed a massacre" at the academy near the northern city of Aleppo.

On Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks.

It said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead.

The Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as a popular uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule, then turned into a full-blown civil war.

The United Nations estimates that 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

[Associated Press]

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