This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows people searching through the debris of destroyed buildings in the aftermath of a strike by Syrian government forces, in the neighborhood of Jabal Bedro, Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday Feb. 19, 2013. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria released a 131-page report Monday, Feb. 18, 2013, detailing deepening radicalization by both sides and says fighters on both sides in Syria's civil war have committed atrocities and should be brought to justice. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)

BEIRUT (AP) — A pro-government Syrian newspaper says opposition fighters have killed 115 policemen and wounded 50 in a battle over a police academy in the country's north.

The daily Al-Watan reported on Monday that "terrorists committed a massacre" at the academy near the northern city of Aleppo.

On Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks.

It said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead.

The Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as a popular uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule, then turned into a full-blown civil war.

The United Nations estimates that 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.