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Baby survives as Syrian family killed
Sep 5th 2012, 05:23
- Pattern of Aleppo attacks appears designed to terrify civilians rather than target rebels
- In one strike rockets collapsed a two-story building with an extended family inside
- Locals pulled 11 bodies from the rubble and one baby survivor
- The baby boy was apparently protected from the blast by his mom as she breastfed him
Aleppo, Syria (CNN) -- It is impossible to get used to. The roar of a jet overhead, the hum of helicopter blades hovering around your block, the sudden thud of a blast. When you hear it, at least you know you are safe.
Yet this has become daily life for residents of Aleppo. People living in rebel held territory, among whom the Free Syrian Army (FSA) mingle, and upon whom the Syrian regime's wrath is visited.
The blasts continue throughout the day and also haunt the night. There is no perceivable pattern as to where they strike, for they don't appear to aim themselves at the few targets the FSA present.
Their timing is also hard to follow: they hit most at dawn and dusk, yes, but the shells are sometimes few, sometimes sustained. And above all, they don't follow a pattern that suggests the artillery weapons are trying to hit-and-miss their way towards an objective. They simply fire, strike, and then move to a completely different place altogether.
The only pattern to divine is that there is really no pattern, unless your aim is to terrify.
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 Free Syrian Army fighters take up positions in a shelled out building in the Seif El Dawla neighborhood of Aleppo on Sunday, September 2, as clashes with Syrian government forces continue.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter peeks around the corner of a building during a shootout with snipers on a street in the El Amreeyeh neighborhood of Aleppo.
 Syrian detainees who were arrested for participation in protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime sign their release papers at the Damascus police leadership building Saturday, September 1.
 Syrian prisoners wait in line to sign their release papers at the Damascus central police station on Saturday, as the authorities released 158 people from the facility.
 Syrian prisoners congratulate each other as they walk out of the Damascus central police station.
 A Syrian air force fighter jet launches missiles at El Edaa district in Syria's northwestern city of Aleppo. Nearly 18 months of violence have left thousands dead in Syria.
 Smoke rises from the El Edaa district after a Syrian fighter jet dropped missiles.
 Civilians carry their belongings and flee the El Edaa district after an airstrike.
 Escaping civilians drive through the El Amreeyeh neighborhood in Aleppo.
 Free Syrian Army fighters transport explosives on a motorbike in Aleppo on Friday, August 31.
 A boy sits at a window spotted with bullet holes at a local bakery.
 Children pass a bagged body outside a hospital in Aleppo on Thursday, August 30.
 Members of the Syrian opposition carry a wounded man outside a hospital in Aleppo on Thursday, August 30.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter walks through a hole in a damaged house on his way to the El Amreeyeh neighborhood frontline during clashes with government forces in Aleppo.
 Free Syrian Army fighters take up position during clashes in the El Amreeyeh neighborhood of Aleppo.
 Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover after Syrian forces fired a mortar in El Amreeyeh.
 A Syrian opposition fighter aims a sniper rifle at government forces in Aleppo on Wednesday, August 29.
 Syrian opposition fighters swear an oath for the liberation of Syria in Aleppo on Wednesday.
 Free Syrian Army fighters carry a wounded member into a hospital in Aleppo on Tuesday, August 28.
 Free Syrian Army rebels dodge fire from Syrian forces as they run down a street in Aleppo on Tuesday.
 A rebel fighter takes cover during clashes Tuesday with government forces in Aleppo.
 An opposition fighter fires at government forces from a street in Aleppo.
 Residents walk past buildings damaged in what activists said was an airstrike by the Syrian air force on Kafranbel, near Idlib.
 Doctors treat a wounded girl at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, on Tuesday.
 Residents look over the bodies of people killed in the violence Tuesday.
 Civilians flee the violence from the Damascus suburb of Kafr Batna.
 A man reacts as an ambulance arrives with the body of a Free Syrian Army fighter outside a hospital in Aleppo.
 A paramedic and another man cover the body of a Free Syrian Army fighter outside a hospital in Aleppo.
 Smoke rises in the Damascus suburb of Ain Terma during clashes between Syrian rebels and pro-government forces.
 A boy rides a bicycle toward fuel trucks struck by missiles from fighter jets in the Bab al-Nayrab district of Aleppo, Syria, on Monday, August 27.
 Fuel tankers smoke and smolder after being struck by missiles in Aleppo on Monday.
 Syrian army fighters discuss a new tactic to push the front lines in the Seif El Dawla neighborhood of Aleppo on Monday.
 A Free Syrian Army sniper takes his position in Seif El Dawla on Monday.
 Men arrested for their involvement in anti-regime protests wait to be released in Damascus on Monday. The official Syrian news agency reported that authorities released 378 people detained for their participation in street protests, adding that those freed were never involved in acts of violence.
 Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover in the old city of Aleppo on Monday.
 A woman sits in her wheelchair next to her house, damaged by an army air raid, near Homs on Sunday, August 26.
 Rebel fighters run for cover during continued clashes with government forces in Aleppo on Saturday, August 25.
 Rebel fighters fire in the streets against pro-Syrian government forces.
 A street in Aleppo is covered in rubble from heavy fighting between rebels and Syrian government forces.
 A picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency shows Syrian soldiers carrying the body of an alleged rebel fighter in Aleppo.
 A handout picture released by SANA shows army soldiers burning a revolution flag in Aleppo.
 A rebel fighter communicates to his commanders during ongoing fighting in Aleppo's Mashhad neighborhood.
 Residents line up along a street in Aleppo as they wait to receive free bread.
 Displaced Syrian familes sit in a shelter at the border with Turkey after fleeing their homes from violence.
 A Syrian boy whose family has been displaced due to fighting between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces stands in a field near the border with Turkey.
 A boy receives treatment for wounds he received during an airstrike by a regime forces helicopter in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Friday, August 24. Government forces blitzed areas in and around Syria's largest city, activists said, as Western powers sought to tighten the the reins on embattled President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter takes aim at regime forces during clashes in Aleppo.
 A young boy runs across the street during clashes between Free Syrian Army fighters and forces loyal to al-Assad.
 A Syrian man reacts outside an operation room as doctors treat his grandchildren after an airstrike by regime forces.
 A Syrian boy receives treatment after he was wounded by shells from a government helicopter that hit his house.
 Family and friends look for the bodies of a woman and her two daughters killed by an airstrike on Sunday, August 19. See more photos from Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, who has spent a total of about five months covering different parts of Syria since 2011.
 People gather around the bodies of an entire family killed by the airstrike the day before on Friday, August 17, in front of a hospital.
 Two children are treated for shrapnel wounds at a hospital on Thursday, August 16.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army clash with Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district on August 22.
 A Syrian rebel fighter holds a handmade bomb in the Saif al-Dawla district in the center of Aleppo on August 22.
 Syrian rebels run for cover during heavy fighting in the Saif al-Dawla district in the center of Aleppo on August 22.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army take up positions as smoke rises in the background during clashes with Syrian army soldiers on August 22.
 A member of the Free Syrian Army aims his rifle as he uses doors as a shield on August 22.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army take cover during clashes with Syrian Army soldiers on August 22.
 A Syrian rebel fires towards a pro-government sniper in the Said al-Dawla district of Aleppo on August 22.
 Smoke rises from Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district after what activists say was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on August 21.
 Mourning relatives gather at the funeral of a Free Syrian Army fighter killed during heavy fighting in the Salaheddine neighborhood of central Aleppo on August 21.
 Syrian rebel fighters stand around a cache of homemade missiles which they say they will use on forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on August 21.
 The father of Amar Ali Amero, a Free Syrian Army fighter who was reportedly killed by a sniper in the Salaheddine neighborhood of central Aleppo, mourns during his funeral in Azaz, north of Aleppo, on August 21.
 People pray during the funeral of the Free Syrian Army fighter, Amar Ali Amero on August 21.
 A Member of the Free Syrian Army fires during clashes with Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district, on August 20.
 A skirmish in the street of Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district between members of the Free Syrian Army and Syrian army soldiers on August 20.
 A man cries near the graves of his two children killed during a recent Syrian Air Force air strike in Azaz on August 20.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army prepare their weapons in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district on Monday, August 20.
 Syrian bakers work in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, August 19, the first day of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
 In this image provided by Syria's national news agency, SANA, President Bashar al-Assad, center, is greeted by a cleric while attending Eid al-Fitr prayers at al-Hamad mosque in Damascus on Sunday, August 19.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army and residents try to extinguish a fire that they say was caused by shelling by forces loyal to al-Assad in the Damascus suburb of Saqba on Friday, August 17.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter takes aim during clashes in Aleppo on Friday, August 17. For days, the northern Syrian city has been at the center of some of the worst fighting in the 18-month-old conflict.
 A rebel fighter makes his way through a hole in a wall during fighting Friday in Aleppo, Syria's largest city.
 A rebel climbs some stairs in a building during clashes in central Aleppo's Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A rebel fighter runs for cover as a Syrian army tank shell hits a nearby building Friday in Aleppo. The opposition accuses Syrian forces of shelling flashpoint neighborhoods in Aleppo where rebels are making a stand.
 Free Syrian Army fighters dress a mannequin to look like a fighter to draw gunfire away from them Friday in Aleppo.
 Free Syrian Army fighters rest Friday in Aleppo during a lull in fighting.
 A fighter with the rebel Free Syrian Army secures a street Friday in the Damascus suburb of Saqba. Fighting raged unabated Friday across Syria, while diplomats struggled to find a political solution.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army try to secure a street Friday in Saqba.
 The Free Syrian Army takes charge of a street in Saqba.
 A rebel holds a rocket-propelled grenade Friday in the Damascus suburb.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an anti-aircraft gun at a Syrian air force helicopter in Aleppo on Thursday, August 16.
 Free Syrian Army fighters carry the body of a fellow fighter during clashes Thursday in Aleppo. Government forces are pounding Syria's largest city in a siege that's become the focal point of the civil war.
 A grief-stricken woman clutches her dead baby while her husband's body is covered up following a regime airstrike on Azaz, a town near Aleppo, on Wednesday, August 15.
 Syrians search for people trapped under the rubble after the airstrike Wednesday in Azaz, near Aleppo.
 A man removes his belongings from his destroyed car at the airstrike site.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an AK-47 rifle in Aleppo on Wednesday, August 15.
 Syrians carry the body of a woman after an airstrike in Azaaz.
 A Syrian man reacts after an airstrike in Azaaz.
 Syrians flee Azaaz following the airstrike.
 A Syrian youth holds the arm of someone trapped under rubble after an airstrike in the town of Azaaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo.
 Black smoke billows into the air after a bomb exploded at a military site car park near a hotel used by United Nations monitors in Damascus. The explosion Wedesday wounded three people, Syrian state television said.
 Firefighters work at the scene of a bomb explosion in central Damascus. The bomb was planted under a diesel tanker.
 A man carries the body of a boy after a Syrian Air Force strike on Azaz, some 29 miles north of Aleppo.
 A man sits in front of tombstone workshop in Aleppo.
 Jordanian security guards patrol the entrance of the Zaatari refugee camp, located outside the northern Mafraq, Jordan, which borders Syria. Refugees face the hardships of sweltering heat, dust, lack of electricity and at times sexual harassment in this UN-run desert tent camp.
 Jordanian security officers detain a Syrian man after he tried to escape from the Zaatari refugee camp in Mafraq.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter learns that his commander has been killed by a tank shell in Aleppo on Tuesday, August 14. Opposition activists say shelling in dissident strongholds has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the country.
 Free Syrian Army fighters look at the body of their commander killed by a tank shell Tuesday in Aleppo.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter fires his rifle in Aleppo on Tuesday.
 Syrian rebels fire toward a sniper in Aleppo on Monday, August 13, as fighting continues against Syrian government forces.
 A rebel fighter fires at government forces Monday in Aleppo's Salaheddin neighborhood.
 A Syrian rebel climbs a staircase in Aleppo's Salaheddin district as the opposition battles the regime.
 A man gives bags of bread to customers at a bakery run by the opposition Free Syrian Army in Aleppo, Syria's largest city.
 Rebels covered in dust and debris emerge from a building hit by an army tank shell Monday in Aleppo's Salaheddin area.
 A rebel fighter gestures toward others after emerging from a shelled building during fighting Monday with government forces.
 A Free Syrian Army sniper looks through the sight on his rifle from a house in Aleppo on Monday.
Rebel fighters sit behind a barricade of rocks on an Aleppo street.
 Free Syrian Army fighters walk down a debris-covered street Monday in central Aleppo's Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an RPG as a Syrian army tank shell hits a building across a street during heavy fighting in central Aleppo on Saturday, August 11.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter sits on a window sill as he holds an AK-47 rifle in central Aleppo.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter aims his rifle during heavy fighting in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an RPG after a Syrian army tank shell hit a building during heavy fighting in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter tries to fix his jammed rifle during heavy fighting in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter runs for cover during heavy fighting in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a damaged building during heavy fighting in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter aims an RPG as he waits for Syrian army tanks in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter walks on an empty street in the Salaheddine neighborhood.
 Free Syrian Army members check a confiscated cache of weapons found on a truck that was searched at a checkpoint in Dana.
 A rebel fighter fires an anti-aircraft gun during a regime airstrike on Tel Rafat, a village north of Aleppo, on Thursday, August 9. The Syrian government and rebel groups have been battling for control of Aleppo, a key front in the conflict that has morphed into a civil war.
 A Syrian air force fighter plane fires during an airstrike Thursday in Tel Rafat, north of Aleppo. Forces loyal to the regime have been shelling Aleppo, Syria's largest city.
 A truck burns after apparently being hit by rockets during an airstrike on Tel Rafat.
 Men carry the body of a boy killed in an airstrike in the village of Tel Rafat.
 A boy's body is uncovered in the rubble of a house demolished during the recent clashes in Tel Rafat.
 A man steps on a carpeted image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Anadan, northwest of Aleppo, on Wednesday, August 8. The fighting has taken a toll on al-Assad's regime, which has been hit by assassinations and political and military defections.
 Residents sift through rubble Wednesday searching for bodies under a collapsed house destroyed in an airstrike.
 Syrian refugees bathe Wednesday at Al Zaatri U.N. camp in the Mafraq, Jordan, near the border with Syria. The recent shelling has led thousands of residents to flee Syria.
 Syrian refugees cook a meal at Al Zaatari camp in Mafraq, Jordan.
 A Syrian rebel prepares his weapon as a group of Free Syrian Army fighters head toward the fighting with Syrian Army soldiers in the Salah ad-Din neighborhood of central Aleppo on Sunday, August 5.
 Syrians evacuate a civilian wounded in shelling in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, August 4. Syria's armed forces pounded Aleppo's rebel-held Salah ad-Din district with air and ground fire as violence also raged in the Shaar and Sukkari districts, according to reporters in the area and a rebel commander.
 A vehicle burns as Syrians walk through debris from clashes between Syrian armed forces and rebels in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, August 4.
 A boy plays on the gun of a destroyed Syrian army tank partially covered in the rubble of the destroyed Azaz mosques, north of the restive city of Aleppo, on Thursday, August 2.
 Smoke rises from Al-Safsaf in Homs on Friday, August 3.
 A boy plays with an AK-47 rifle owned by his father in Azaz, some 29 miles north of Aleppo on Friday, August 3.
 Syrians climb on an abandoned Syrian army tank north of Aleppo on Thursday, August 2.
 A man looks at a destroyed Syrian army compound in Azaz, 29 miles north of Aleppo on Friday, August 3.
 A Syrian refugee walks at the Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, on Friday, August 3.
 People and a member of the Free Syrian Army commute on Wednesday, August 1, past a building on the outskirts of Idlib that was hit by rocket fire Tuesday night by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Unrest spread across other volatile regions of the country as al-Assad's forces shelled targets and launched raids in and around Damascus, Homs, Daraa and Deir Ezzor.
 A woman and child on Wednesday walk through rubble of a building destroyed by shelling from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo.
 Demonstrators hold an opposition flag during a protest Wednesday against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
 Syrian girls on Wednesday walk past a Syrian army tank captured two days earlier by rebel fighters at a checkpoint in the village of Anadan. The strategic checkpoint secures the rebel fighters free movement between the northern city of Aleppo and Turkey.
 Rebel Free Syrian Army fighters capture a policeman who they allege is a "Shabiha" or pro-regime militiaman, on Tuesday, July 31, as the rebels overrun a police station in Aleppo.
 Rebel fighters load an anti-aircraft machine gun on an armored vehicle in Atareb, east of Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo, on Tuesday, July 31.
 Syrian boys run near a building hit by bullets and fire in Atareb.
 A member of the Free Syrian Army fires at forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad in a district of Aleppo called Salah Edinne on Tuesday.
 A member of the Free Syrian Army carries an injured civilian to safety in Aleppo's district of Salah Edinne on Tuesday.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army learn that a tank belonging to forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad is heading to the area.
 A Syrian boy carries bags of bread as people wait outside a bakery near Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo.
 A photo released by Syrian Arab News Agency depicts damaged buildings in Homs on Monday, July 30.
 A Free Syrian Army fighter takes position Sunday, July 29, in Aleppo as people flee shelling. Intense clashes have been under way for more than a week between the regime and rebels in Aleppo, Syria's commercial and cultural center.
 Parts of Syria's largest city saw the fiercest clashes yet in the country's 16-month crisis on Saturday, July 28. About 200,000 people have fled fighting in Aleppo and surrounding areas in the past two days, a U.N. official says.
 Fighting leaves vehicles damaged Saturday in the southwestern city of Daraa.
 Syrians carry the body of a man allegedly killed in the bombardment of Sukari, southwest of Aleppo, by Syrian regime forces on July 27.
 Destruction appears widespread in Homs on Friday, July 27, in a handout photo from the Syrian opposition Shaam News Network.
 A Syrian opposition fighter takes aim during clashes with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on Wednesday, July 25.
 Family and friends mourn over the body of Usame Mircan, who they say was killed by a Syrian government sniper in Aleppo on Wednesday.
 Usame Mircan's mother grieves after he was killed during fighting in Aleppo.
 The bodies of men killed during clashes between Syrian rebel fighters and goverment forces lie on the Aleppo street on Thursday, July 26.
 Fighters from the Syrian opposition rest at a former primary school in Aleppo on Wednesday.
 Residents take cover as fighters from the Syrian opposition clash with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on Wednesday.
 Syrian rebels guard a checkpoint in Aleppo on Wednesday.
 A damaged portrait of President Bashar al-Assad sits among piles of debris at a checkpoint manned by Syrian rebels in Aleppo on Wednesday.
 Syrian rebels drive through Selehattin near Aleppo during clashes with government forces on Monday, July 23.
 A Syrian rebel runs through the streets of Selehattin during an attack on a municipal building. The rebel Free Syrian Army says it is attempting to "liberate" several districts of Aleppo.
 Syrian rebels work to find snipers during clashes Monday between the opposition and government forces in Selehattin.
 Syrian rebels make their way down a street Monday in Selehattin near Aleppo. If they gain control of Aleppo, it would mark a pivotal point in the Syrian crisis.
 Syrian rebels take cover behind sandbags during fighting Monday at the entrance to the city of Selehattin.
 On Sunday, July 22, a Syrian refugee looks out from a bus as he arrives at a refugee camp in Turkey opposite the Syrian commercial crossing point Bab al-Hawa.
 Syrian refugees flee from a refugee camp nicknamed "Container City" on the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, southern Turkey, on Sunday.
A mortar shell falls toward the Syrian village of Jbatha Al-khashab, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Damascus. It's seen from the Israeli side of the border, in the Golan Heights.
 Smoke from artillery shelling rises above Jbatha Al-khashab.
 An armed Syrian rebel wearing the jersey of FC Barcelona rests with comrades near the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday. The rebel Free Syrian Army announced the start of the battle to "liberate" Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and a traditional bastion of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
A Free Syrian Army soldier rips a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad at the Bab Al-Salam border crossing to Turkey on Sunday.
Dozens of Turkish truck drivers on Saturday, July 21, accused Free Syrian Army rebels of having burned and looted their lorries as they captured Syria's Bab al-Hawa post, near Aleppo, from government troops.
 In this photo released by the Shaam News Network, a truck burns after shelling in the Erbeen suburb of Damascus on Saturday, July 21.
 Refugees fleeing the violence in Syria arrive by bus in Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday.
 Turkish soldiers stand guard at the Cilvegozu border gate in Reyhanly that connects to Syria's Bab al-Hawa post. An estimated 120,000 people have fled Syria to Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan.
 Burned-out trucks at the Bab al-Hawa Syrian border post with Turkey on Friday, July 20. Syrian rebels seized control of the post after a fierce battle with Syrian troops, an AFP photographer at the scene reported.
 Syrian soldiers celebrate in the al-Midan area in Damascus on Friday. Syrian regime forces routed rebel fighters from the Damascus neighbourhood of Midan, Syrian state television reported, saying troops had "cleaned" the district of "terrorists."
 Journalists are shown a dead body on a government tour of the al-Midan area in Damascus on Friday.
 Members of Syria security forces rest in the al-Midan area in Damascus on Friday.
 Syrian army soldiers hang their national flag in a partially destroyed neighborhood in the al-Midan area in Damascus.
 Smoke hangs in the air in a partially destroyed neighborhood in the al-Midan area in Damascus.
 Members of Syria security forces pose for photographers in the al-Midan area in Damascus after driving out the rebel fighters.
 Syrian residents take goods from a truck that rebels captured at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on Friday.
 A picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on July 19 shows Syrian General Fahd al-Freij meeting with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus after his swearing-in ceremony as defense minister.
 A man holds up a picture of President Bashar al-Assad at a former police station in Atareb after clashes between Syrian soldiers and Free Syrain Army near Aleppo on Thursday, July 19. Rebels seized control of border crossings with Iraq on Thursday, dealing a new blow to al-Assad, as China and Russia dismayed the West by blocking U.N. action against his regime.
 People walk along the street in Atareb amidst damage caused by clashed between Syrian soldiers and the Free Syrian Army.
 A Syrian man checks the former police station of Syrian regime after a clash at Atareb on Thursday.
 Smoke ascends from from alleged shelling of the Syrian village of Jebata al-Khashab as seen from the hill village of Buqaata in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Thursday.
 The death toll in Syria on July 12 reached 287, making it the bloodiest day in Syria since the uprising began. As it has done consistently, Syrian state television blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the killings.
 A Syrian woman sits with her grandson outside a damaged building after attacks in the Syrian village of Treimsa on July 13, 2012. More than 200 people were massacred in the town, according to activists.
 A Syrian demonstrator holds an opposition flag during a protest in Damascus on July 2, 2012. There have been increasing reports of violence in the Syrian capital.
 Syria's President Bashar al-Assad waves as he arrives for a speech to Syria's parliament in Damascus on June 3, 2012. The embattled president denied that government forces were behind the "outrageous" massacre in Houla.
 People gather at a mass burial on May 26, 2012 for victims reportedly killed during an artillery barrage from Syrian forces in Houla. The attack left at least 108 people dead, including nearly 50 children, according to the United Nations.
 Members of the Free Syrian Army return to Qusayr on May 12, 2012 after an attack on Syrian regime forces in the village of Nizareer, near the Lebanese border in Homs.
 A U.N. observer speaks with Syrian rebels and civilians in the village of Azzara on May 4, 2012, days before the country's parlianemtary polls were held against a backdrop of unrest.
 Thousands of Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, right, during a rally to show support for their leader on March 29, 2012 in Damascus.
 Syrian rebel fighters man a checkpoint leading into the town of Taftanaz in the rebel stronghold province of Idlib on March 20, 2012.
 A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his steed in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, 2012, a year after the uprising began. The Free Syrian Army is an armed opposition group made up largely of military defectors.
 Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14, 2012. International mediator Kofi Annan called for an immediate halt to the killing of civilians in Syria as he arrived in Turkey for talks on the crisis.
 A day after the twin suicide bombings, Syrian mourners pray over the coffins of the 44 people killed during a mass funeral in Damascus.
 A Syrian man who was wounded in a suicide attack rests at a hospital in Damascus on December 23, 2011. Suicide bombers hit two security service bases in the Syrian capital, killing dozens of people.
 Arab foreign ministers attend an emergency meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on October 16, 2011, to discuss the crisis in Syria.
 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to the media in Washington on August 18, 2011. Clinton said U.S. sanctions on Syrian oil "strike at the heart of the Syrian regime."
 Syrian youths wave national flags while army troops drive out of Daraa on May 5, 2011. During a week-long military lockdown of the town, dozens of people were reportedly killed in what activists described as "indiscriminate" shelling on the city.
 Syrians in Damascus protest in the street on March 25, 2011, after clashes with government forces in Daraa left several dead.
 Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rally on April 1 in Istanbul, Turkey, as delegates from dozens of countries gather to push for ways to end the deadly violence in Syria. The United Nations estimates more than 10,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the crisis in March 2011. The conflict is now being labeled a civil war by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Showdown in Syria
That objective is simple when your target is an unarmed civilian population, defended at times by an often motley and ramshackle rebel army. The easiest way to discern there is trouble overhead is to see residents straining their necks upwards.
One morning at 6 a.m., shells and rockets slammed into the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. In one home, 12 people from the same extended family were huddled, mostly asleep.
The rockets slammed into the roof, bringing the second floor down onto the first. We arrived four hours after the strike, once the neighborhood had had time to react and begun to dig its way into the rubble. It was a crowd of locals -- fathers and neighbors -- horrified at what was happening to their homes and community. The FSA stood around to rally vehicles to take away the wounded.
The digging was furious: hands and shovels trying to prize away huge slabs of dusty concrete. Faces covered in dust, frantic groups of men trying to be large enough in number to get the job done but small enough to leave space to work in the cramped confines of a half-collapsed building.
There is panic and frenzy, but finally a flurry of cries. "Alla u akhbar," as they see a limb. Then a leg, eventually the limp body of a little girl pulled from the rubble. A blanket is rushed forwards to cover her face: they are too late, and preserving her dignity in death is all they can do.
The search continues amid the endless threat that the helicopters which fired the original rockets may strike again and the risk that the building's half-filled second floor might cave in entirely.
When buildings collapse, the dead are often found in groups, huddled in the same room where they sleep. In this case, the father is found shortly after the daughter. A woman outside the rubble screams: "I swear to God we have been destroyed. I swear to God, Bashar al Assad is killing us".
But the bodies kept coming, 11 dead in total, nine of them children. They are rushed by the furious FSA to the hospital, the children placed under blankets and laid in the back of a pickup truck. Aged from four to 11. Omar, Mohamed, Fatma. One of their fathers is too distraught to name all the dead -- two related families, one of which had gone to visit the other.
But amid the incomprehensible brutality, the people in this corner of Aleppo find a gift. He is barely a year old and called Hussein. He was pulled from the rubble, a simple act of care having saved his life.
Hussein's mother, Najah, was breastfeeding him when the rockets struck. Najah was killed by the rubble, but her body sheltered Hussein. He is brought to the hospital, the men cursing Syrian President Bashar al Assad as a "dog" and hoping Hussein will live to see him hanged.
They tear off his dusty clothes and clean his body, a symbol of their perseverance. Born into this bloody and continuing revolution, they pray he will grow up in a very different Syria.
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