BBC News with Jerry Smit.

The 11th century minaret of the Great Mosque in the city of Aleppo, part of a Unesco world heritage site, has been destroyed in fighting between the Syrian government forces and rebels. Images on the internet show rubble where the minaret stood. Lina Sergie Attar is an

architect

from Aleppo who now lives in the United States. She told the BBC it was a significant loss.

“The Umayyad Mosque, or the Great Mosque of Aleppo, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in Syria, and it’s probably the second most visited site by tourists to Aleppo after the Citadel. It’s also a

sacred

place. It holds the remains of the Prophet Zakariya, the father of John the Baptist, a revered figure to Muslims and Christians alike. And it’s very sad and devastating to see something that was so special to our city gone.”

Orthodox Church officials in Aleppo say two bishops who were kidnapped by gunmen on Monday are still missing. Yuhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, who are from different branches of the Orthodox Church, are the most senior clerics to be caught up directly in the Syrian conflict. A French church organisation said on Tuesday that the bishops had been released. But church officials have confirmed to the BBC that until Wednesday evening, they’ve still had no contact with the men.

Police in Bangladesh say the owners of a building that collapsed outside the capital Dhaka were alerted to a severe