A year after the start of Syria's uprising, the weary nation is at an impasse, with a broad insurgency still active despite months of brutal attacks by the Syrian army and other forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Diplomacy has now stalled, international sanctions have had little effect, and no outside intervention appears imminent. According the the UN, more than 8,000 people have died in the conflict so far, and the violence is escalating in what has become a war of attrition. The Syrian government is denying access to the country by independent journalists, but a number of them have found their way in and out on their own, bringing back these images so the world can see what is taking place.
Deadly Stalemate in Syria
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Aida cries as she recovers from severe injuries after the Syrian Army shelled her house in Idlib, Syria, on March 10, 2012. Aida's husband and two of her children were killed in the attack. #
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A woman holds her daughter on the balcony of her building damaged by Syrian Army bombings in central Idlib, Syria, on February 27, 2012. European Union foreign ministers said Monday they were increasingly appalled by the Syrian government's ruthless campaign of repression against civilians, and imposed new sanctions in hopes of pressuring the regime to change course. #
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Ammar al-Wawi, a one-time Syrian officer now second-in-command of the rebel Free Syrian Army, poses for a picture during an interview in the restive Idlib province in northwestern Syria, on March 14, 2012, during which he said "Assad has killed so many people that he deserves a fate worse than Qaddafi's." #
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Members of the Free Syrian Army deployed in al-Bayada, Homs, on February 29, 2012. Syrian troops launched a ground attack in Homs on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to overrun the rebel-held Baba Amro neighborhood that has endured 25 days of siege and fierce bombardment, opposition sources said. #
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Syrian rebels take position during clashes with Syrian Army forces in Idlib, Syria, on March 11, 2012. In the previous days, troops had encircled Idlib, and tank shells pounded the city from dawn until evening. Rebels dashed through the streets, taking cover behind the corners of buildings as they clashed with the troops. Wounded fighters were piled into trucks bound for makeshift clinics. #
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Click to view imageA man carries a boy who was severely wounded during heavy fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces in Idlib, on March 11, 2012. Syrian activists said Monday that pro-government gunmen killed several people including children in a rebel stronghold recaptured by the government in the embattled central city of Homs. #
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Click to view imageA morgue worker burns a bandage to bind the hands of a boy who died from his wounds during heavy fighting between Syrian rebels and the government forces in Idlib, on March 11, 2012. Wounded people, including children and women, crowded into the clinic in bloodstained clothes. Many had clearly been struck by snipers, who shot them through the legs and arms. Shrapnel left many with gaping wounds; many died in their beds. There was no space in the morgue for more corpses, so families immediately arranged to bury the dead. #
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A Syrian rebel reacts after learning of the death of at least four comrades and several injured during clashes with Syrian government forces outside a hospital in Idlib, on March 11, 2012. #
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A Syrian rebel stands next to a flaming tire while firing at a Syrian army checkpoint, in a suburb of Damascus, on March 17, 2012. Two suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives in near-simultaneous attacks on heavily guarded intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital Damascus Saturday, killing at least 27 people. #
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Syrian refugees walk through woods helped by rebels from the Free Syrian Army as they attempt to cross the northwestern part of the Syrian border into neighboring Turkey, on March 18, 2012. #
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Syrian refugees hide their face as they arrive at the border between Syria and Turkey at Reyhanli in Antakya, on March 15, 2012. Some 1,000 Syrian refugees, including a defecting general, crossed into Turkey in a 24 hour period, braving landmines laid to stop them by Syria's troops. The head of the Turkish Red Crescent warned that the number of Syrians arriving in Turkey could reach half a million if Bashar al-Assad's regime keeps up its year-long crackdown on dissent. #
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A Syrian refugee, who fled the unrest in Syria, refuses to speak to the media while waiting to receive humanitarian aid at the Islamic Charity in Amman, Jordan, on March 21, 2012. #
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Shadows of Syrian refugee children are cast on a tent as they walk in Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border, on March 17, 2012. Over the past few weeks, the number of Syrians crossing has increased dramatically with an average of 200 to 300 now coming into Turkey every day. Around 15,000 registered Syrian refugees now live in tented camps inside Turkey, making up almost half of the 34,000 people the United Nations estimates to have fled Syria since the start of the conflict a year ago. #
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A Syrian woman kisses a soldier from the Free Syrian Army in front a destroyed Syrian army tank which was attacked during clashes between the government forces and the rebels, in Rastan town, on March 21, 2012. #
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Free Syrian Army fighters plant a roadside bomb to destroy a Syrian Army tank during a day of fierce fighting with the government forces in Idlib, on March 11, 2012. #
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Muaz Jaban, a 22-year old man from the northern Syrian town of Ma'arra in Idlib, lies in a hospital bed in Reyhanli in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border, on March 20, 2012. Jaban was badly wounded when a Syrian army tank opened fire on an anti-government protest in Ma'arra earlier this month. #
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A Syrian rebel mans a position in the north of northern Syria's Idlib region, on March 18, 2012. Saudi Arabia is delivering military equipment to Syrian rebels in an effort to stop bloodshed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime, a top Arab diplomat said. #
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Bloodstains are left on the walls, furniture and floor, from a 70-year-old woman who was killed in the room during heavy shelling by government forces in Sermeen near the northern city of Idlib, on February 28, 2012. #
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The wife of Mohammed Halak holds her husband as she mourns his death due to injuries caused by gunfire during heavy fighting between the Syrian rebels and Syrian Army forces in Idlib, on March 11, 2012. #
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Syrian children who fled to Jordan with their families enjoy a day out at an amusement park in Amman, on March 21, 2012. The activity was organized by an aid group to help the children acclimatize to life in their new environment. #
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Zaher Al Hariri is hugged by his friend after speaking to the media in Amman, Jordan, on March 15, 2012. He described how his right hand was cut off by Syrian security forces after he went to a state hospital in Syria's Deraa city to receive treatment after a bullet penetrated his fingers when security forces fired shots at a pro-democracy rally he participated in. He is now getting psychological treatment for trauma from the French aid organization Medicins Sans Frontieres. #
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People gather at the site of a car bomb explosion that went off behind a security office in Aleppo, Syria, on March 18, 2012. The bomb hit Aleppo one day after blasts killed 27 in Damascus, and security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare anti-government protest in the center of the capital. #
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Armed Syrian men, members of the rebel Free Syrian Army, gather in a mountainous area of the restive Idlib province on March 13, 2012. Some 100 fighters are gathered in this region, another hotspot of rebel operations against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. #
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Hana, age 12, flashes the victory sign next to her sister Eva, 13, as they recover from severe injuries after the Syrian Army shelled their house in Idlib, north Syria, on March 10, 2012. Their father and two siblings were killed after their home was shelled. #
AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
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