Airstrike on Syrian school kills 19 during children's art exhibit, activists say

BEIRUT -- A Syrian government airstrike hit a school Wednesday in an opposition-held district of the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 19 people, including 10 children, activists reported.

A missile slammed into the Ein Jalout school in eastern part of Aleppo as teachers and students were preparing an exhibit of children's drawings depicting Syria at war, activists said.

In another video by opposition activists, the bodies of 10 children wrapped in brown and blue sheets are seen on the floor of a hospital ward. A woman's uncontrollable screams are heard in the background.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to Associated Press reporting of the events.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which covers the conflict through a network of activists on the ground, said at least 19 people were killed in the strike, including 10 children. The local Aleppo Media Center put the toll at 25 killed, most of them children.

The United Nations' children agency said in a statement it was "outraged by the latest wave of indiscriminate attacks perpetrated against schools and other civilian targets across Syria."

Thousands of Syrian children have died in Syria's 3-year-old conflict, which began as an uprising against Assad's rule, but has now become a civil war that has killed over 150,000 people and displaced millions.

An opposition activist from Aleppo now based in Berlin provided the AP with a copy of the invitation to the exhibition to confirm it was taking place. Mohammed Neser, the activist, said he feared that his colleagues who organized the show were now dead.

"I haven't been able to get in touch with them," he said.

Aleppo, Syria's largest city, has been divided between government forces and rebels for nearly two years, with constant fighting doing little to change the balance on the ground. Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have been carrying out airstrikes and dropping crude barrel bombs in rebel-held districts in the eastern part of the city, at times hitting schools, mosques and markets.

Rebels have hit back with mortar strikes and car bombs.

Meanwhile Wednesday, mortar fire killed three people near the Central Prison complex in Damascus, state news agency SANA said. A day earlier, a mortar strike in Damascus and a double car bombing in the central city of Homs killed at least 54 people.

In a statement Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned those attacks, calling them "horrendous acts of terror against innocent civilians."

Also Wednesday, another six Syrians submitted their candidacy applications to run in presidential elections slated for June 3, bringing the number of contenders so far to 17, Parliament Speaker Jihad Laham said.

Assad announced earlier this week that he will run for re-election. The others who are seeking to run are all unknowns.

In a televised campaign-style appearance Tuesday, Assad and his wife Asma met with parents who lost their only sons in the conflict.

Meanwhile, a U.N. official said Jordan was opening a new, sprawling tent city to accommodate tens of thousands more Syrian refugees who are expected to flee fighting as their nation's civil war continues unabated.