Syrian Army shelling destroys Hazrat Khalid bin Walid’s shrine

BEIRUT: Syrian army shelling destroyed the centuries old shrine of Hazrat Khaled bin Waled in the central city of Homs on Monday, a monitoring group and activists said.

"Activists from the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood in the city of Homs have reported the destruction by army shelling of the mausoleum of the Hazrat Khaled bin Walid," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Housed in the rebel area of Khaldiyeh, the Hazrat Khaled bin Walid mosque had already suffered significant damage during earlier fighting for control of the city.

Amateur video distributed by activists showed the mosque, renowned for its two towering minarets, and images of what was identified as the destroyed mausoleum.

The images show mounds of rubble, stone and metal at the site identified as the mausoleum. The video also shows an unidentified man lashing out at the world over the
destruction of the shrine.

Khaldiyeh and the Old City neighbourhoods of Homs, still under rebel control, have been under suffocating army siege and near-daily bomb attacks for more than a year.

The mosque housing Khalid bin Hazrat Walid's shrine, an important pilgrimage site for Muslims, was built over several centuries. The shrine itself dates to the 11th century, while the mosque was constructed by the Mameluks in the mid-13th century.