MY sushi houston blog: July 2012

By Ivan Watson and Holly Yan, CNN

July 26, 2012 -- Updated 1703 GMT (0103 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: 112 people have been killed across Syria on Thursday, opposition group says
Turkey's prime minister says it is considering plans for a buffer zone in northern Syria
Helicopter gunships flew over Aleppo and Damascus, opposition activists say
"They must stop fighting and killing people now," U.N. secretary-general says

Are you in Syria? Share your stories, videos and photos with the world on CNN iReport.

Northern Syria (CNN) -- Undeterred by a wave of casualties, Syrian rebels say they will not back down in their quest to seize Aleppo, the country's commercial hub and a crucial city in the Syrian civil war.

After six days of fighting, the seesaw battle with government forces raged again Thursday as helicopter gunships flew over the city, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least one rebel fighter was killed, the group said.

The seat of President Bashar al-Assad's power also saw renewed violence Thursday as explosions rocked several Damascus neighborhoods, another opposition group said.

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Regime and rebel forces battled in several Damascus neighborhoods, and the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk endured "fierce helicopter shelling with machine guns," the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

The LCC also reported dozens of dead and wounded in shelling by regime forces in Yalda, in the Damascus suburbs, and in bomb attacks in the Mashtal district of the capital.

The death toll for Thursday has climbed to 112 across Syria: 29 in Damascus and its suburbs; 27 in Daraa, including 22 in the Al-A'ajamy Valley; 20 in Aleppo; 16 in Idlib; 10 in Homs; four in Hama; five in Deir Ezzor; and one in Qunaitra, the LCC said. Some of those killed in the Al-A'ajamy Valley were defected soldiers seeking "to save civilians fleeing from shelling," the group said.

In the past week, the civil war has pushed into Syria's two largest cities, Aleppo and Damascus.

On Wednesday, opposition fighters burned a police station and captured pro-regime forces, rebels said.

Rebel militias are largely composed of soldiers who defected from the Syrian military. But there are also many civilians -- including students, shopkeepers, real-estate agents and even members of the president's ruling Ba'ath party -- all trying to end four decades of al-Assad family rule.

A Sunni cleric in the village of Injara, about six miles west of Aleppo, showed CNN craters and gaping holes in at least six homes, the result of what he and residents said were rockets and artillery from a Syrian army base visible a couple of miles away.

"They hit us every night," Sheikh Ali Bukhro said.

Other residents lamented that they have not had electricity or running water in more than a month. Some men said they had sent their families to refugee camps in Turkey, where more than 40,000 Syrian refugees have taken shelter.

The British ambassador to the United Nations said reports of warplanes over Aleppo are especially concerning.

"The reports now of attacks by regime fighter jets in Aleppo mark yet a further dangerous escalation and underlines that there are no boundaries that the Assad regime will not cross in the misguided hope that it can resist the will of its people and hang on to power," British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

The front page of Syrian pro-regime newspaper al Watan carried the headline "Aleppo... the Mother of all Battles" on Thursday.

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Syrian city of Rastan in rebel hands

Syrian rebels drive through Selehattin near Aleppo during clashes with government forces on Monday, July 23. Fierce fighting has been reported in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Rebel control of this commercial hub would deal a heavy blow to President Bashar al-Assad's financial ties.

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.

Syria rebels work to locate 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, which is opposite of 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 fired 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

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Showdown in Syria

On Wednesday, at least 129 were killed, including 22 in Aleppo and 27 in and around Damascus, the LCC said.

As the violence spirals within Syria, many civilians have become internally displaced or fled over the border and fears of sectarian conflict have grown.

Asked Thursday if Ankara was considering establishing safe zones in northern Syria to counter any threat to Turkey's security from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was noncommittal but said officials were discussing their options.

"It is out of question that we would allow a terrorist organization to be based in northern Syria and become a threat to our country," he said in televised remarks.

"All of these are among alternatives -- safe zone, buffer zone or camps such as the ones we have now -- all of these are among alternatives," he said. "Our Foreign Ministry, armed forces, intelligence organizations are working on this, and decisions or steps that will need to be taken will be taken when the time comes."

Turkey and the United States consider the PKK a terrorist group.

Speaking Thursday at a memorial to those who died in the Srebrenica massacre in the Balkans in the 1990s, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Syrian government and the opposition forces to cooperate with the United Nations in bringing the conflict to an end.

The U.N observer mission in Syria has not been able fully to do its job "because of the noncompliance of the parties -- the government parties and also opposition forces," he said.

The six-point peace plan brokered with U.N. special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan and U.N. Security Council resolutions must also be implemented "without further delay," he said.

Waving the 'red flag' on arming Syria's opposition

"At this time again I am urging all the parties: They must stop fighting and killing people now. They have to begin political dialogue for a political resolution of this crisis," Ban said.

After 16 months of chaos, more officials from al-Assad's regime have resigned.

The opposition Syrian National Council said Wednesday that two senior Syrian diplomats were the latest to defect.

One is the Syrian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Abdullatif Al Dabbagh, SNC spokesman George Sabra said.

The second is Al Dabbagh's wife, Lamia Al Harriri, who is a Syrian envoy to Cyprus. She defected to Qatar, SNC member Najy Tayyarah said. Al Harriri is also the niece of Syrian Vice President Farouq Al Sharea.

Syrians surround a U.N observer vehicle after placing the bodies of a girl and man on the car in Houla on Saturday, May 26, 2012. The photo is from the opposition Shaam News Network. Forty-nine children were among the 108 slaughtered in Houla on Friday, May 25, U.N. monitors say. The massacre in Houla, a suburb of the anti-government bastion of Homs, has reignited international fury against Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The body of a slain Syrian child lies next to other shrouded bodies at a hospital mortuary in Houla on Saturday in another photo from the opposition Shaam News Network. Al-Assad's regime insists it is not behind the massacre and blames terrorist groups. Syria has attributed violence on "armed terrorist groups" throughout the 14-month-old uprising.

Bodies of children lie in a Houla hospital morgue before their burial Saturday in another photo from Shaam News Network. Images from the town show a room crammed with mangled and bloody bodies of children -- some with their skulls torn open.

U.N. observers visit a hospital morgue in Houla on Saturday before the burial of massacre victims. Opposition activists and residents blame al-Assad's regime for the bloodbath.

A Houla resident shows a body to a U.N. observer at a mosque in the central Syrian town. Some U.N. Security Council members condemned the attacks "that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood" as well as killings of civilians by close-range gunshots.

Syrians gather at a mass burial Saturday in Houla. "Those responsible for these brutal crimes must be held accountable," Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League special envoy, said in a statement.

Massacre in Syria

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Photos: Massacre in Syria

But on Thursday, a Syrian official downplayed the reports of recent defections.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Dabbagh "was called to Damascus for consultations with the minister and has been off duty ... since June 4."

In addition, Makdissi said, Al Harriri has never been a Syrian ambassador. "She is a diplomat who was tasked with managing affairs on behalf of the embassy charge d'affaires pending the appointment of an ambassador."

The Syrian crisis started in March 2011, when a fierce government crackdown on peaceful protesters morphed into a nationwide uprising against the regime.

The LCC says more than 16,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The U.N. secretary-general said this week that almost 17,000 people have died.

The United Nations refugee agency says it has registered more than 120,000 refugees in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

CNN's Ivan Watson reported from northern Syria; Holly Yan reported from Atlanta. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, Yesim Comert, Yousef Rafayah and Richard Roth also contributed to this report.

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