Syrian Rebels'Blowup of Aleppo Hotel Kills Scores; Syria's Military Was Using This Hotel as a Barracks

Scores of Syrian troops were killed today (May 8, 2014) when insurgents detonated explosives packed into a tunnel they had dug under an Aleppo hotel that the Syrian military had been using as a barracks, The Guardian website reports.

The attack was the biggest militants have launched in the western half of Syria's largest city, which is under regime control.

The insurgents dug a tunnel thought to be at least 400 meters long towards the Carlton Citadel hotel from a frontline in the Old City district that splits Aleppo roughly down the middle.

The Islamic Front -- one of three main opposition groups fighting to remove Bashar al-Assad as Syrian leader -- claimed responsibility for the attack.