Battle for Aleppo intensifies Syrian conflict

source  :  http://www.boston.com  :  January 30, 2012

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. -- Lane Turner (32 photos total)

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages)

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Doctors treat a wounded child allegedly injured by Syrian government forces shelling, at a field hospital in Qusayr on July 14, 2012. (Syrian opposition Shaam News Network/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Syrian men line up to buy bread at the only open bakery left in Al-Bueda on July 23, 2012. (Antonio Pampliega/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A Syrian rebel enters a house in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012, during fighting between rebels and Syrian troops. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Syrians run for cover as a helicopter hovers over Aleppo on July 24, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A Syrian girl lies on top of luggage at a makeshift refugee camp inside Iraq after crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border at Albu Kamal-Qaim, the main border post between the two countries, July 24, 2012. (Saad Shalash/Reuters) #

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Syrian rebels break their fast with the iftar meal during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the northern city of Aleppo on July 24, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A girl pauses on a street in Homs on July 25, 2012. (Yazen Homsy/Reuters) #

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Fighters from the Syrian opposition rest in a former primary school in Aleppo on July 25, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged the world "to stop the slaughter." (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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The mother of Usame Mircan, who was allegedly killed by a Syrian government sniper, mourns over his body with family and friends in Aleppo on July 25, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Civilians take cover as fighters from the Syrian opposition clash with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on July 25, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Free Syrian Army opposition fighters detain policemen after overrunning the Shaar district police station in Aleppo on July 25, 2012. (Pierre Torres/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A Syrian man carries badly wounded five-year-old Mohammed Amumrej after he was hurt during shelling by Syrian government forces in the center of Aleppo late on July 25, 2012. The boy later died. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Opposition fighters prepare home-made firebombs in Aleppo where rebel forces overran the Shaar district police station on July 25, 2012. (Pierre Torres/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Syrian people leave the city center after shelling by Syrian government forces in Aleppo late on July 26, 2012. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Members of a Syrian refugee family walk through the Domiz refugee camp in the northern Iraqi of province Dohuk on July 25, 2012. The number of refugees that have fled to Iraq's Kurdistan region exceeds 11,000. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters) #

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A Syrian refugee family rests inside at the Domiz refugee camp in Dohuk province in Iraq on July 25, 2012. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters) #

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A Syrian refugee girl looks out from behind the fence at Yayladagi refugee camp in Hatay province, near the Turkish-Syrian border, on July 27, 2012. (Umit Bektas/Reuters) #

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Syrian mourners bury the body of a man killed in violence in Binnish in the northeastern province of Idlib on July 26, 2012. (Syrian opposition Shaam News Network/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Women react at the graves of their sons, whom activists say were killed by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad, in a cemetery in Homs on July 27, 2012. (Syrian opposition Shaam News Network/Reuters) #

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A man mourns over the body of a person allegedly killed during bombardment by government forces in Qusayr, near Homs, on July 27, 2012. (Syrian opposition Shaam News Network/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Syrian Kurds stand in the street in Jinderes, near Aleppo, on July 22, 2012, as Kurdish activists on the Syria-Turkey border started taking control of towns in the area without encountering much resistance from the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A Free Syrian Army member takes position while people flee after hearing shelling in the Aleppo district of al- Sukkari on July 29, 2012. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) #

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Free Syrian Army members interrogate a man who was arrested while stealing from vacant houses in Aleppo on July 29, 2012. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) #

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A Free Syrian Army member walks past the body of what they say is a member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's shabiha militia in the Aleppo district of al-Sukkari on July 29, 2012. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) #

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A Free Syrian Army member shows the body of a civilian he said was killed during a shelling by government forces in Aleppo on July 29, 2012. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters) #

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Girls walk on debris next to damaged buildings in Marat al-Numan near the northern province of Idlib on July 27, 2012. (Syrian opposition Shaam News Network/Reuters) #

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Syrian men pray over the body of a child allegedly killed during a government forces operation in al-Qusayr on July 28, 2012. (Syrian opposition Shaam News Network/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Fighters carrying food supplies run for cover along a street in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo on July 29, 2012. (Pierre Torres/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Syrian rebel fighters celebrate on top of a tank captured from government forces at a checkpoint in the village of Anadan, near Aleppo, on July 30 2012, after a 10-hour battle. The strategic checkpoint of Anadan secures the rebel fighters free movement between the northern city of Aleppo and Turkey. (Iskandar Kat/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A rebel fighter aims his rifle in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo on July 29, 2012. (Pierre Torres/AFP/GettyImages) #

In flight

                                          SOURCE :    http://www.boston.com

The desire to float on the breeze is a strong one. The illusion of escaping gravity, however briefly, has driven mankind in myriad attempts at flight. The animals that achieve this are the subject of envy, study, and imitation. Flying, falling, or floating, the following images show us joyfully escaping the bounds of gravity, even if just for a moment. [Editors' note: There will be no Big Picture entries for the week of August 27, 2012. We will return with regular posts on Wednesday, September 5, 2012.]-- Lane Turner 

A competitor jumps into the water during a cliff diving competition near the central Bohemian village of Hrimezdice, Czech Republic on August 3, 2012. (David W Cerny/Reuters)

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A participant demonstrates his skills using a water jet pack during a competition near Pleshchenitsy, Belarus on August 4, 2012. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) #

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Roller skate designer and performer Jean-Yves Blondeau leaps into the air as he skates down a road on Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, China on July 22, 2012. Wearing a multiple-wheel roller suit, Blondeau took less than 20 minutes to skate almost seven miles from the peak to its base. (China Daily/Reuters) #

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Benny Borash kite boards in heavy seas and wind off Long Beach in Nahant, Mass. on June 4, 2012. (Bill Greene/Globe Staff) #

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Jessica Marie Palazzolo, suspended from an overhead pulley, is lowered during the "Flight of the Angel," the culmination of the four-day Fisherman's Feast in Boston's North End on August 13, 2012. (Tamir Kalifa for The Boston Globe) #

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Chris Ashworth, who plays a cosmonaut, heads towards the camera during rehearsal for filming of the movie "Space Warriors" on July 20, 2012 at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. (Dave Dieter/The Huntsville Times/Associated Press) #

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Tourists enjoy zero gravity conditions during a flight in a specially modified plane above the Moscow region on August 15, 2012. (Sergei Remezov/Reuters) #

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Felix Baumgartner steps out from the capsule during a test flight on July 25, 2012 over Roswell, New Mexico on a mission to the edge of space to an altitude of 37.000 meters to break several records including the speed of sound in freefall. (Jay Nemeth/Red Bull via Getty Images) #

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Soldiers are deployed from a Washington Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a demonstration on August 5, 2012 in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press) #

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A Belgian Air Force C-130 cargo plane flies over Belgium on July 19, 2012 during a rehearsal for the country's National Day military parade. (Yves Herman/Reuters) #

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Russian Su-27 jet fighters perform during a celebration marking the Russian air force's 100th anniversary in Zhukovsky, Russia on August 12, 2012. (Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press) #

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A firefighting tanker plane drops water above a forest fire near Lacanau, France on August 17, 2012. (Loic Le Loet/Reuters) #

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Michael Wiskus wows the crowd at the Over the River Air Show on July 28, 2012 in Pasco, Wash. (Richard Dickin/The Tri-City Herald/Associated Press) #

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A replica Bleriot plane performs during a rehearsal of the Russian air force's 100th anniversary in Zhukovsky on August 10, 2012. (Misha Japaridze/Associated Press) #

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Tourists look at the Prague Castle from a balloon on August 12, 2012 in Prague. (Michal Cizek/AFP/GettyImages) #

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Hot air balloons take to the skies from Ashton Court at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta on August 10, 2012 in Bristol, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) #

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A fawn breasted Birillant (Heliodoxa rubinoides) is seen at the private reserve of Paz de las Aves (Peace of the Birds) near Nanegalito, Ecuador on April 4, 2012. Ecuador has 1600 species, 13% of the existing world total. (Rodrigo BuendiaAFP/GettyImages) #

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Young sparrows call out to a male house sparrow as it flies off to find more food in East Windsor, Conn. on July 26, 2012. (Jessica Hill/Associated Press) #

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Mosquitoes and a dragonfly flit around a light on a hot summer night at the Turquillas land in Osuna, Spain on August 9, 2012. (Jon Nazca/Reuters) #

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A squirrel aboard the USS Constitution exercises its sea legs in Boston, Mass. on August 16, 2012. (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff) #

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France's Renaud Lavillenie celebrates as he competes in the pole vault final at the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 10, 2012. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/GettyImages) #

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A diver takes a plunge with torches from the 82-foot-high Old Mostar Bridge into the Neretva River during the annual night high diving event in Mostar, Bosnia on July 29, 2012. (Amel Emric/Associated Press) #

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Indian children dive in the River Ganges in Varanasi, India on June 1, 2012. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press) #

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A couple jumps into the lake in Podpec, Slovenia on August 6, 2012. (Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters) #

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Actor Doug Jones jumps at the premiere of "The Watch" at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on July 23, 2012. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters) #

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A paramilitary policemen clears a wall during a training exercise at a military base in Chuzhou, China on July 25, 2012. (ChinaTopix/AP Photo) #

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The English National Ballet performs a show before the start of the women's individual all-around gymnastics final in the North Greenwich Arena during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 2, 2012. (Mike Blake/Reuters) #

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Jonathan Horton of the US trains at the O2 Arena before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games in London July 25, 2012. This photo was taken using multiple exposures . (Mike Blake/Reuters) #

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138 skydivers form a massive snowflake on August 3, 2012 over Ottawa, Ill. It took 15 attempts over three days for the team to break the previous record of 108 skydivers, which was set in 2009. (Brian Buckland/Associated Press) #

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Megan Haverkamp (center front) and Michaela Hart enjoy a ride called the Ring of Fire at the midway of the Crow Wing County Fair on July 31, 2012 in Brainerd, Minn. (Kelly Humphrey/Brainerd Dispatch/Associated Press) #

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A boy flies a kite by the Amazon River during a festival inaugurating the river as one of the seven natural wonders of the world in Iquitos, Peru on August 13, 2012. (Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters) #