Syria conflict intensifies - photos of civil war fighting in Damascus and Aleppo - Photos - The Big Picture

Syria conflict intensifies - photos of civil war fighting in Damascus and Aleppo

In a conflict dragging on into its twentieth violent month, today was an especially deadly day in Syria, where rebels are fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad. A pair of car bombs exploded, one in Hama and one in Damascus, and both sides claimed wildly different casualty totals. Intense shelling of rebel positions served as counterpoint. But even an especially deadly day here makes it just one of many in the conflict that has claimed as many as 35,000 victims since it began with street protests on March 15, 2011. Over a quarter of a million refugees have fled to Syria's neighbors, and the UN puts the number of internally displaced at over a million. Gathered here are images from the last month in the Mediterranean country of 22 million. -- Lane Turner (37 photos total)

A rebel fighter signals victory after he fires a shoulder-fired missile toward a building where Syrian troops loyal to President Bashar Assad were hiding while they attempt to gain terrain against the rebels during heavy clashes in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria on November 4, 2012.. The uprising against Assad started with peaceful demonstrations in March last year, but has since morphed into a bloody civil war. Activists say more than 36,000 people have been killed in 19 months of fighting. (Narciso Contreras/Associated Press)

Buildings in besieged Homs slump following shelling on October 7, 2012. (Shaam News Network/AFP) #

A father of a man killed by Syrian government forces mourns at the morgue in Aleppo on October 23, 2012. (Fabio Bucciarelli/AFP/Getty Images) #

A family member squeezes oxygen into the lungs of an eight-year-old girl who was fatally wounded by a the machine gun of a Syrian government jet in the Karm al-Aser neighborhood of eastern Aleppo on October 31, 2012. The unprecedented surge in air strikes carried out by Syrian forces this week is a desperate attempt by President Bashar al-Assad's regime to reverse recent gains by rebel fighters, analysts and rebels say. (Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images) #

Kamal, the father of an eight-year-old girl who was fatally wounded along with his son Hamed (sitting at left on background), cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on October 31, 2012. (Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images) #

A cat sits among debris from damaged buildings in Juret al-Shayah in Homs on November 1, 2012. (Yazan Homsy/Reuters) #

A man makes his way through the rubble of a damaged building in Wadi Al-Sayeh district in Homs on October 17, 2012. (Yazan Homsy/Reuters) #

A Syrian rebel fighter aims fire through a hole in the wall that overlooks a position held by loyalist troops in the Citadel of Aleppo's Old City on October 28, 2012. (Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images) #

A rebel sniper aims at Syrian army positions in Aleppo's Jedida district on October 29, 2012. Syrian fighter jets pounded rebels across the country, the most widespread bombing in a single day since the war began. (Narciso Contreras/Associated Press) #

A Syrian rebel machine gunner sprays government held buildings after coming under fire from regime snipers duirng a battle on October 11, 2012 in Aleppo. (Zac Baillie/AFP/GettyImages) #

Residents inspect wreckage after a car bomb in the Jaramana district of Damascus on October 29, 2012. Syrian state television 10 people were killed near a bakery. (Sana/Reuters) #

Members of pro-government forces look out from a cell in Haram Prison, where they are detained by the Free Syrian Army in Haram town, Idlib Governorate on October 29, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) #

A rebel fighter fires a gun toward a building occupied by Syrian troops in the Jedida district of Aleppo on November 4, 2012. (Narciso Contreras/Associated Press) #

A member of the Free Syrian Army runs along a street to avoid sniper fire during fighting against government forces in Harem town, Idlib Governorate on October 25, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) #

A girl who was injured in a car bomb that exploded in Daf al-Shok district lies in a hospital in Damascus on October 26, 2012. (Sana/Reuters) #

A member of the Free Syrian Army talks to a woman during a patrol to search for pro-government forces in Haram town, Idlib Governorate on October 26, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) #

A member of the Free Syrian Army is reflected in a mirror in a house they use as a base in Haram town, Idlib Governorate on October 26, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) #

A wounded Syrian youth sits in the back of a truck carrying wounded people to hospital following an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on October 21, 2012. (Fabio Bucciarelli/AFP/Getty Images) #

Syrian detainees, who were arrested over participation in protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, cover their faces while waiting to sign their release papers at a police building in Damascus on October 24, 2012. (Khaled al- Hariri/Reuters) #

A wounded boy receives medical treatment at a hospital in Aleppo on October 18, 2012, following an attack by government forces. Rebel-held areas of Aleppo have been targeted daily by artillery, tanks and warplanes for weeks. (Fabio Bucciarelli/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Syrian rebel fighter runs to cover from a government sniper during clashes in the Suleiman al-Halabi neighborhood in Aleppo on October 18, 2012. (Fabio Bucciarelli/AFP/Getty Images) #

Free Syrian Army fighters launch a home-made bomb using a catapult during clashes in Aleppo on October 20, 2012. (Zain Karam/Reuters) #

A man reacts in pain after being shot by a sniper for a second time as he waits to be rescued by members of the Al-Baraa Bin Malek Batallion of the Free Syrian Army's Al-Fatah brigade, in the Bustan al-Basha district of Aleppo on October 20, 2012. Due to the risk of being shot by the sniper, no one was able to rescue the man who eventually ran towards rebels, only to be shot by the sniper a second time. Rebels then pulled him and rushed him to a hospital, though it is not known if he survived. Three civilians were shot on this main road in the space of three hours by the same sniper. (Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images) #

A wounded boy arrives at the Dar al Shifa hospital in Aleppo following shelling by government forces on October 11, 2012. (Antonio Pampliega/AFP/GettyImages) #

A man carries a woman from her destroyed home in the Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo on October 13, 2012. (Zac Baillie/AFP/GettyImages) #

Syrian rebel fighters take position inside a house during clashes with government forces in the Saif al-Dawla district of Aleppo on October 9, 2012. (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/GettyImages) #

A man cries after the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack, in the Sha-ar neighborhood of Aleppo on October 10, 2012. (Zac Baillie/AFP/GettyImages) #

Free Syrian Army fighters dance in a house during a break in the fight in Aleppo on October 19, 2012. (Zain Karam/Reuters) #

Children play on swings in Aleppo on October 23, 2012. (Zain Karam/Reuters) #

A refugee from one of the provinces of Idlib cooks in front of her tent in a refugee camp in Atimeh, on the Syrian-Turkish border on October 23, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) #

Syrian refugees gather at a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border near Al-Salama crossing on October 12, 2012. (Vedat Xhymshiti/AFP/Getty Images) #

A man makes traditional Syrian pastries at a market in Atareb on October 24, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters) #

Demonstrators hold opposition flags during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Erbeen on October 12, 2012. (Shaam News Network/Reuters) #

A boy makes preparations in a cave under his house to be used as a shelter in Kafruma on October 26, 2012. (Giath Taha/Reuters) #

Children clean up their classrooms in a school damaged during fighting in Kansafra on October 6, 2012. (Zain Karam/Reuters) #

An elderly woman crosses a street next to a long black cloth used to separate the area from Syrian government forces' sniper fire, in the Bab el-Adid district of Aleppo on October 23, 2012. (Fabio Bucciarelli/AFP/Getty Images)#

A child walks on top of a tent in a refugee camp in Atimeh on the Syrian-Turkish border on October 23, 2012. (Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)#