Explosion reported in Aleppo as residents return home

An explosion hit the ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday as residents returned to their homes after the government claimed full control of the city.

Government media said a device left by rebels in a school in eastern Aleppo caused the explosion, according to The Associated Press. The state TV report said three people had been injured in the blast.

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Before the civil war, Aleppo was Syria’s commercial hub, but the city has been a battle zone or under siege since 2012.

Although Syrian and Russian airstrikes on eastern Aleppo have ceased since the government’s victory, air attacks on surrounding rebel-controlled areas continued Saturday, the AP reported.

Two conflicting reports from the town of Atareb said the airstrikes had killed either five or seven people.

The takeover of Aleppo marked Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s most important victory since the civil war began more than five years ago.