Activists claim seven killed in renewed shelling and tank barrage as gunmen shoot dead Syrian general in Damascus
Syrian forces have unleashed new tank and rocket attacks on the besieged city of Homs killing at least seven people, activists said.
The renewed bombardment comes amid reports that gunmen have assassinated an army general in Damascus, the first killing of a high-ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime began in March.
Syria's state news agency Sana reported that three gunmen shot dead Brigadier General Issa al-Khouli as he left his home in the Damascus district of Rukn-Eddine on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, activists in Homs said that a 55-year-old woman was among those killed by shellfire on the Baba Amr district on Homs. Some reports suggest as many as 15 people have been killed in the past 24 hours.
Footage posted on YouTube purports to show tanks on the edge of Baba Amr, with one firing its main gun across a highway.
"The indiscriminate shelling is killing mostly civilians," said Fawaz Tello, an Egyptian-based member of the opposition Syrian National Council.
"Assad cannot push his troops into street fighting ... so he is content with shelling Homs to bits until civilian losses pressure the Free Syrian Army to withdraw and regime troops can enter these neighbourhoods without taking any serious losses," Tello added.
Western diplomats condemned the latest assault and warned that Syrian officials responsible for the ongoing bloodshed will eventually be punished.
EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said: "I am appalled by the reports of the brutal attacks by the Syrian armed forces in Homs. I condemn in the strongest terms these acts perpetrated by the Syrian regime against its own civilian,"
One western diplomat added: "It is important that Syrian senior regime officials understand that even if they are out of reach today there may come a point down the line when they will be held accountable.
"A lot of these mid-ranking officials, they don't have significant assets and within the EU jurisdiction they are probably not going to travel much.
"But mainly it shows that a list of names that at the moment is a list of people who are not allowed to travel to the EU can very easily become another kind of list of names in another form further down the line."
Officials admit they see little hope of breaking the current cycle of violence, with the regime now apparently firmly locked in to a "security solution".
But despite the frustration, there was caution about calls from some in the Syrian opposition for the international community to establish safe havens or humanitarian corridors through which aid can pass.
Officials warned of the dangers of sending in aid workers without adequate protection.
More than 5,400 people have been killed since the uprising began in March last year.
The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has said the UK has no plans to arm Syrian rebels trying to overthrow the president.
Syrian troops have been trying to regain control of areas in Homs since last Saturday when they started a major offensive on rebel-held areas. Activists say more than 400 people have been killed in the city since.
The world is deeply divided over how to end the Syria conflict. On Sunday, Russia and China vetoed a draft UN security council resolution sponsored by western and Arab states that backed an Arab League call for Assad to step down.