Syrian rebels bomb historic hotel in a show of force

Syrian rebels bombed a once luxurious, historic hotel being used as a government army base in the northern city of Aleppo, levelling the building and causing multiple casualties in a giant explosion carried off by digging tunnels under the complex, activists and militants said.

The blast set off a gigantic mushroom cloud next to the historic citadel of Aleppo, collapsing the Carlton Hotel in a government-held area near the front lines in the city, which has been one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of Syria’s civil war.