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5:49pm UK, Wednesday February 08, 2012
People in Homs have said the latest attack on their city is the worst in five days of shelling.
In the areas of Baba Amr and Al Walid, residents feel they are under siege after five straight days of shelling.
One opposition fighter said multiple rockets and tank rounds had been fired on the city.
Later on Wednesday several people were killed when a car bomb exploded in the Bayada neighbourhood, with Syrian television blaming the blast on "armed terrorist gangs".
The number of dead over the past 24 hours has passed 50, with widespread reports saying 20 children were among those killed.
Homs resident Dana told Sky News the situation in the city was worsening.
"The humanitarian state is horrible - nothing is available," she said.
"No electricity, no communication, no food, no water, and the biggest problem is, I think, there is no first aid, no medicine.
"The doctors are doing their best in the field hospitals, they cannot afford all the numbers of the wounded people."
Locals claimed tanks and infantry were on the move, and local TV reports said the same.
That has prompted speculation that an all-out ground assault by President Bashar al Assad's troops is brewing.
About a mile from where I am, locals were gathering to give blood at a house which has become a makeshift hospital.
Hundreds of people were giving blood in expectation that there will be many more casualties - but it is not known where in the city the blood will be needed.
Outside of Baba Amr, the Free Syrian Army have gathered to discuss an exit strategy for its leaders.
They have done it before - moved out of the city as the government forces moved in, leaving their families behind.
They expect the current onslaught to become much worse.
That is because they have reported an increased presence of the much-feared militia group Shabiha.
They are used by President Assad to do the dirty work the military won't do - infiltrate an area, be it Sunni or Shia, and then attack it, stoking sectarian animosity.
The people are incredibly scared of the militia and as a result, they are deeply suspicious of new faces.
A number of buses in the city have been seen loaded with what was described as militia fighters.
Residents have become vigilant about stopping cars they don't know and people they haven't seen before.
As a result, the city is under a self-imposed lockdown as they prepare for what they fear will be a full-blown offensive by the regime.
Read more on Syria:
:: Homs Attack: Syria's Benghazi Moment?
:: Syria's First Lady Backs Her Husband
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