(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/120929-souk-hmed-11as.photoblog600.jpg)Shaam News Network via APIn this image taken from video obtained from Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a fire rages at the medieval market in Aleppo, Syria. By NBC News and wire servicesHundreds of shops in the ancient covered market in Aleppo, Syria, were burning Saturday as fighting between rebels and state forces in Syria's largest city threatened to destroy the U.N. World Heritage Site.
Activists speaking via Skype said army snipers were making it difficult to approach the Souk al-Madina, the medieval market of vaulted stone alleyways and carved wooden facades in the Old City, once a major tourist attraction, Reuters reported.
Activists said the fire might have been started by shelling and gunfire, and estimated that between 700 and 1,000 shops had been destroyed so far. The accounts were difficult to verify because of government restrictions on foreign media.
NBCNews
Its just too bad that all these ancient edifices are destroyed because of senseless conflicts.