The state news agency Sana accused rebels of blowing up the 11th-Century minaret of the Umayyad Mosque².

 

However, activists⁷ say the minaret was hit by Syrian army tank fire.

 

The mosque, which is a Unesco world heritage site, has been in rebel hands since earlier this year but the area around it is still contested.

 

Last October Unesco appealed for the protection of the site, which it described as "one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim world".

 

Images posted on the internet showed the minaret reduced to a pile of rubble in the mosque's tiled（平铺的） courtyard.

 

Other parts of the mosque complex - which dates mostly from the 12th Century - have been badly damaged by gunfire and shell hits.

 

A report by Sana said fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group had destroyed the once famous landmark.

 

It quoted an official source saying that "terrorists... placed explosive materials in the minaret and the mosque's southern door and set them off".

 

However, Aleppo-based activist⁶ Mohammed al-Khatib, quoted by AP news agency, said a tank shell had "totally destroyed" the 45m (148ft) minaret.

 

The mosque has suffered extensive damage during months of fighting, with antique furnishings and intricately（杂乱地） sculpted⁸ colonnades⁹ affected¹⁰.

 

Reports say some ancient artefacts（人工制品） have also been looted, including a box purported¹¹ to contain a strand¹² of the Prophet Muhammad's hair.

 

However, rebels said they had salvaged¹³ ancient handwritten Koranic manuscripts and hidden them.

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