As fighting in Aleppo rages, frightened civilians seek shelter

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Rebels have seized two police stations, opposition group says
• NEW: Fighting raged in Damascus, Homs, Daraa and Deir Ezzor
• NEW: The displaced continue to flee to safer ground
• NEW: Nearly 130,000 Syrian refugees have been registered by the U.N.

Northern Syria  Syria's most populous city remained engulfed by fighting Tuesday as opposition groups reported incremental rebel gains and the United Nations said civilian displacement rose.

Fighters attacked Syrian police stations in the central neighborhoods of Salhin and Bab al-Nayrab, and seized control of the buildings after hours of clashes, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. At least 40 police officers died in the violence.

The observatory said a sniper killed the leader of a rebel battalion in the Marjeh neighborhood and clashes engulfed the Salaheddine neighborhood. State-run TV said Syrian forces clashed with "armed terrorist groups" on the outskirts of Aleppo and destroyed nine armored vehicles "with all terrorists inside."