Syria Violence
A FSA gunman blocks a street during a protest in Reef Damascus, against Syrian President Assad's forces attacking the town of Homs Reuters

Syrian government forces continue to shell opposition protestors in the city of Homs on Friday, according to reports.

Activists in the city are calling the assault the heaviest in weeks. Homs has become a focal point in the 11-month long protest against the government of Bashar al-Assad, and the city is now a de facto command post for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a rebel group made up of former Syrian soldiers who now defend the opposition.

The shelling is continuous. They are using rockets and mortars, which are falling on people's houses, Homs resident Abu Abdah told the BBC.

The damage is so huge, and the city has been isolated. We have no support. We have a lack of medical supplies and food. The Assad forces have prevented people leaving the city.

The bombardment on cities like Homs, Idlib, and Daraa, which have strong anti-Assad presences, has lasted for 14 straight days, and residents are too afraid to leave their homes for fear of snipers perched on roofs.

The government has promised to enter Homs to wipe out the FSA and other armed terrorist gangs from the city, but so far has stuck to its strategy of firing into specific neighborhoods with mortars, rockets and tanks.

Friday's shelling came a day after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that officially called for Assad to immediately put an end to attacks against civilians. The resolution was approved by 137 of 193 members states, and the U.N. is hoping that it will show to Assad that he has lost international support.

The resolution also endorsed an Arab League transition plan that would have Assad step down from power. Assad has agreed to, and then rejected, a number of Arab League proposals.

However, while Assad has few allies left, he still has Russia and China on his side, for now. Both nations blocked a UN Security Council resolution on Syria from passage, and Chinese envoys are scheduled to arrive in Damascus to meet with the Syrian president.

Russia and China both want the violence in Syria to end, but want it to be done with as little foreign intervention as possible.

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