On Wednesday, seven people were killed and 24 more injured after militants shelled Aleppo University in Syria’s divided city.

Local officials said most of the casualties were students, and that the university’s infrastructure was also damaged in the attack on the government-held part of the city.

Four people were also injured when militants targeted residential areas across the city.

Aleppo has been divided since 2012 between government forces in the west and the militants in the east. Backed by Russian air cover, the Syrian army launched operations to purge the militants from the city in September.

At least nine people were also killed by militant sniper fire and shelling in the southwestern Quneitra province. Officials said that the attacks had caused severe damage to several homes.

Two more people were also killed in militant attacks in Idlib province and the capital Damascus.

Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. Backed by Russian air cover, the Syrian military is engaged in an operation to rid the country of Daesh and other terrorist groups.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have put the death toll from the conflict at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively. This is while the UN has stopped its official casualty count in the Arab country, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources, Press TV reported.

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