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. 
A rebel holds a rocket-propelled grenade Friday in the Damascus suburb. 
The Free Syrian Army takes charge of a street in Saqba. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
- NEW: Rebels have been trying to get Farouq al-Sharaa into Jordan, a spokesman says
- NEW: State TV cites al-Sharaa's office as saying he "didn't think for a second" to leave Syria
- WHO suspects a water supply is contaminated by the destruction of the sewerage system
- An additional 3,500 Syrians have fled to Turkey in the past few days, a U.N. spokesman says
(CNN) -- Conflicting reports emerged Saturday about whether Syria's vice president has defected.
A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army said Saturday that Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa has left the regime.
Syrian state-run TV did not explicitly say whether al-Sharaa had defected, but reported that the vice president's office issued a statement saying al-Sharaa "didn't think for one second to leave the homeland."
If al-Sharaa did defect, it would mark the highest-level departure from President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"Farouq al-Sharaa did defect, but we were trying to get him through to Jordan," FSA spokesman Louai Miqdad told CNN.
"We lost communications with our commanders in Daraa who were trying to get him to cross the borders to Jordan. We are extremely worried that the regime managed to detain some of his family members forcing al-Sharaa to surrender. We are trying to get him to a safe house with his family, and we will issue a press release once we get hold of our commanders on the ground who are handling this operation."
Syria endured fresh violence Saturday from both the ground and sky, opposition activists said.
Warplanes attacked the western city of Houla as regime tanks shelled parts of the Damascus area, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. At least six people were killed across the country early Saturday.
With no end to the country's civil war in sight, thousands more Syrians have fled across the border this week, a spokesman for the U.N.'s refugee office said.
At least 3,500 people arrived in Turkey within the past few days, spokesman Adrian Edwards said Friday.
"With these latest arrivals, there are now almost 65,000 Syrians in the nine camps in Turkey, though not all are yet formally registered," Edwards said. "To put this in perspective, about 40% have arrived there during August."
The number of formally registered Syrian refugees who have fled to neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan now totals at least 170,116, the United Nations said.
The nearly 18 months of violence in Syria has prompted concerns about the spread of disease, officials said Friday.
"We have heard through the Ministry of Health itself that an estimated 38 hospitals and 149 other clinics have been substantially damaged or destroyed, so this clearly worsens the access to health care," said Richard Brennan, director of emergency risk management for the World Health Organization.
"There are also concerns to the broader public health infrastructure, water supplies, sewerage systems and so on, and that's why we are redoubling our efforts in monitoring the rates of disease and this early identification of increased rates of diarrhea in Damascus, in rural Damascus," Brennan said. "Our early investigations suggest that this is because of contamination of the water supply due to destruction of the sewerage system."
In the ongoing global effort to stop the bloodshed, an Algerian diplomat became the new U.N.-Arab League special envoy to Syria.
On Friday, a U.N. spokesman said Lakhdar Brahimi has been appointed to replace Kofi Annan, the previous envoy to Syria who resigned after months of fizzled attempts to broker peace in the war-torn country.
The al-Assad's regime has refused to acknowledge the civil war, insisting it is fighting armed gangs and foreign fighters bent on destabilizing the country.
"The Syrian military always keeps in mind that they need to safeguard and protect everyone," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told state-run TV this week. "But the armed terrorist gangs have no principles. They kill and destroy and no one holds them accountable."
CNN is unable to independently verify claims of violence as Syria has severely restricted the access of international journalists.
CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report.
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