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 52 civilians in the besieged central city and burning some bodies beyond recognition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
At least 400 people have died in Homs in a relentless six-day onslaught as government troops attempt to crush opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, 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 residents of the district 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.
At least 61 civilians were killed across Syria on Thursday, said the Observatory.
Eleven died when a shell slammed into their house in the Homs neighbourhood of Inshaat, while four others were killed in Rastan, a restive town in the same province.
Elsewhere, an army colonel and seven security forces members died when rebels ambushed two buses near the southern town of Daraa, cradle of the revolt, said the Britain-based Observatory.
But in apparent reference to the same incident, SANA state news agency reported the authorities had made arrests as they foiled an attempt to steal a truck transporting cars in Daraa.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday the "appalling brutality" of the assault on Homs "is a grim harbinger of worse to come."
The pan-Arab bloc's secretary general, Nabil al-Arabi, said he had spoken with Ban about the proposed mission, which would include a UN envoy.
The 22-member League suspended its month-long monitoring mission to Syria on January 28 over the mounting violence.
The UN chief said consultations would be held with the Arab League and Security Council members in coming days "before fleshing out the details."
Ban hit out at Russia and China for their steadfast refusal to back UN resolutions condemning the violence in Syria, saying this had encouraged Assad's regime to continue its repression.
Moscow, a staunch ally of the regime in Damascus, has insisted any solution to end nearly one year of bloodshed must come from within Syria.
However the United States, France and Britain have dismissed such arguments while piling pressure on Moscow to change tack.
Despite the relentless bloodshed, activists urged Syrians to turn out for a big demonstration against Russia on Friday, a traditional day of protests that follow the main weekly Muslim prayers.
"Russia is killing our children. Its planes, tanks and veto are also killing our children," said a banner on the Facebook page of The Syrian Revolution 2011.
The opposition Syrian National Council, which was meeting in Qatar ahead of weekend talks with Arab countries, said Russia's credibility was "badly damaged" by its stance.
"Russia needs to restore its credibility in the eyes of the Syrian people by using its influence on the Assad regime" to immediately stop the killings and negotiate Assad's departure, it said.
Council spokesman Bassma Kodmani said: "Russia needs to get on the right side of history now and turn the page of the Assad regime together with the Syrian people."
Rights groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have died in the crackdown since mid-March.
Human Rights Watch urged the Syrian government to stop shelling residential areas of Homs.
"Those responsible for such horrific attacks will have to answer for them," HRW's Anna Neistat said in a statement.
Russia said it took a cautious view of US-backed attempts to forge a "friends of Syria" coalition that may soon meet in Turkey to coordinate humanitarian assistance for the embattled opposition.
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