Quake takes toll on ancient Aleppo citadel

STORY: On Tuesday a pile of rubble near the citadel was all that was left of a structure identified by local architect Mohammed al-Rifaei as the "sheep tower", which he said had stood there until the devastating early morning quake.

Parts of an Ottoman-era mill had collapsed, walls had cracked and some of the dome of a mosque's minaret had fallen off.

The towering citadel, listed by the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO as a world heritage site, was significantly damaged in a long-running battle between government and rebel forces before it was reopened in 2018.

UNESCO said on Tuesday "significant damage" had been noted in the citadel. "The western tower of the old city has collapsed and several buildings in the souks have been weakened," it said.