With 200,000 fleeing Aleppo, fighting in
Syria intensified in the 16-month long struggle opposing the rule of
Bashar al-Assad. While fighting still grips Homs after a brutal siege,
the conflict has moved north to finally include commercial hub Aleppo -
largely spared until now - a city of over two million. Both the Syrian
army and the rebel Free Syrian Army claim advances in the battle for
Aleppo, which began in earnest over the weekend. More pockets of
conflict rage in other locations within Syria as well. Gathered here
are images made available in the last week from Syria, where independent
news coverage has been limited and difficult. Some of the images are
from third parties and transmitted without confirmation via
international wire services as they were received. -
