A young girl flashes the victory sign next to her sister as they recover from severe injuries after the Syrian Army shelled their house in Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

Syrian rebels are seen amid smoke after being hit by a tank during a day of heavy fighting with Syrian Army forces in Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

Free Syrian Army fighters celebrate after hearing that their comrades destroyed a Syrian Army tank in Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

Children weep during fighting in the Bab Tudmor neighbourhood in the city of Homs. (Getty)

A young Syrian refugee walks past the Boynuyogun Refugee Camp in Hatay, near the Syrian border. (Getty)

A family escapes from fierce fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government troops in Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

A woman mourns the death of her husband due to injuries caused by gun fire during heavy fighting between the Syrian rebels and Syrian Army forces in Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

A woman cries as she recovers from severe injuries after the Syrian Army shelled her house at Idlib in north Syria, where her husband and two children were killed. (AAP)

A man carries a boy who was severely wounded during heavy fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces in Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

Syrian rebels pause for a moment in between fierce fire fights with the Syrian Army in the town of Idlib, north Syria. (AAP)

Some 1,000 Syrian refugees, including a defecting general, have crossed into Turkey, braving landmines laid to stop them by Syria's troops, Turkish officials said. (Getty)

State television showed tens of thousands of people waving Syrian flags and Assad's portrait in cities around Syria, on the first anniversary of the anti-regime revolt in Damascus on March 15, 2012. (Getty)