Paul Wood in Homs says there is "nowhere to hide" for the city's people
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Syria Crisis
- Under fire in Homs
- Diplomacy strain
- Plan in tatters
- Homs: 'Capital of revolution'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad amid a renewed government assault on rebel forces.
Mr Lavrov was greeted by pro-Assad crowds as he arrived in Damascus. The visit comes after Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN resolution criticising the crackdown in Syria.
A new international initiative on Syria has now been promised by Turkey.
The Syrian army has been pounding the rebel stronghold of Homs for days.
The BBC's Paul Wood - one of the only foreign reporters in Homs - says the Syrian army started firing artillery at about 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday.
He says residents fear troops are planning to launch a ground assault. Army tanks are moving closer to the city centre, a resident told the BBC.
Hundreds are reported to have died since the heavy shelling began on Friday. At least 95 people were killed on Monday alone, activists say.
The opposition has voiced strong criticism of the stalemate at the UN, saying the Russian and Chinese vetoes on Saturday encouraged the Syria government to step up the assault on Homs.
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“Start Quote
There is no electricity and all communication with the neighbourhood has been cut”Mohammed al-HassanHoms resident
- All eyes on Lavrov
Cut off
Thousands of President Assad's supporters lined the streets of Damascus and waved flags as Mr Lavrov's motorcade drove through the city.
Mr Lavrov has said Western reaction condemning Russia's veto of the UN Security Council resolution on Saturday bordered on "hysteria".
Moscow has said the draft - which backed an Arab League peace plan calling for President Assad to hand over power - would have forced regime change on Syria.
Mr Lavrov's office said he was heading to Damascus because Moscow sought "the swiftest stabilisation of the situation in Syria".
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland urged Mr Lavrov to "use this opportunity to make absolutely clear to the Assad regime how isolated it is and to encourage Assad and his people to make use of the Arab League plan and provide for a transition".
Russia is the main supplier of arms to Damascus. The Syrian port of Tartus is home to Russia's only Mediterranean naval base.
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So what's on offer? First there will be efforts through other parts of the UN system - the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council - to try to increase the pressure on Damascus.
The Arab League may appoint a special envoy for Syria. Momentum is building for a much broader group of countries - perhaps styled as "the Friends of Syria" - to co-ordinate activities and keep the Syria issue in the spotlight.
For now though this is all entirely in the realm of diplomacy. Some may already be filtering arms to Syrian rebel fighters but the international consensus is that external military intervention has no role in this crisis.
Analysis
Jonathan MarcusBBC diplomatic correspondent
After the collapse of efforts to pass a UN Security Council resolution on Syria, all the talk now is of "new initiatives" - Turkey, France, the UK, the Arab League are all promising action.So what's on offer? First there will be efforts through other parts of the UN system - the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council - to try to increase the pressure on Damascus.
The Arab League may appoint a special envoy for Syria. Momentum is building for a much broader group of countries - perhaps styled as "the Friends of Syria" - to co-ordinate activities and keep the Syria issue in the spotlight.
For now though this is all entirely in the realm of diplomacy. Some may already be filtering arms to Syrian rebel fighters but the international consensus is that external military intervention has no role in this crisis.
Meanwhile Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told MPs in Ankara: "We will start a new initiative with those countries who stand by the Syrian people, not the regime."
The Syrian government, which has been fighting an uprising against President Assad's rule since March, says it is fighting foreign-backed armed gangs.
Thousands of former army soldiers have defected to the rebel side, forming the Free Syrian Army.
Syria's interior ministry said operations against "terrorist groups" would continue until "security and order are restored" in Homs.
Supportive wife
Homs activist Mohammed al-Hassan told Reuters news agency that Tuesday's bombardment was mostly concentrated on the restive Baba Amr district.
"There is no electricity and all communication with the neighbourhood has been cut," he added.
Meanwhile, German police have arrested two men suspected of spying on Syrian opposition groups in the country.
Prosecutors say the Berlin homes of both suspects and those of six alleged accomplices were being searched.
In Britain, the Syrian president's UK-born wife, Asma Assad, has expressed her support for her husband.
An email sent to Britain's Times newspaper from her office said: "The president is the president of Syria, not a faction of Syrians, and the first lady supports him in that role."
Human rights groups and activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the uprising began last March.
The UN stopped estimating the death toll in Syria after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm.
President Assad's government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.
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