Syria's Homs under new deadly blitz

DAMASCUS: Regime forces launched a new blitz on the Syrian city of Homs on Thursday, killing more than 50 people, activists said, as the UN weighed a joint mission with the Arab League to end the violence.

Shelling erupted at daybreak, killing 53 civilians in the besieged central city and burning several bodies beyond recognition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Government troops trying to crush opponents of President Bashar al-Assad have killed at least 400 people in a relentless six-day onslaught on Homs, opposition activists say.

"The shells are raining down on us and regime forces are using heavy artillery," said Ali Hazuri, a doctor in the Baba Amr district reached by telephone from Beirut.

Omar Shaker, an activist in Baba Amr also reached by phone, added that residents were hiding on ground floors as there were no underground shelters.

"When you venture outside, you can see craters every 10 metres (yards)," he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Assad's regime appeared "hell-bent" on killing its own citizens.

"It's quite clear that this is a regime that is hell-bent on killing, murdering, and maiming its own citizens," Cameron told reporters in Stockholm. "It really is appalling, the scenes of destruction in Homs."

He called for "transition and change in Syria."

At least 83 people were killed across the country on Thursday, said the Britain-based Observatory. (AFP)