Hundreds of shells and mortar bombs were reported to have hit the district of Baba Amr as the army targeted areas of Homs where rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have a strong presence.

It is the reported the bombardment has claimed at least 42 lives, with a field hospital being struck by shells.

Homs, the third-biggest urban centre in Syria found near the country’s western frontier with Lebanon, has become a stronghold for FSA guerrillas and one of their crucial supply routes.

The city of about 1 million people has a history of sectarian tension, divided between a Sunni Arab majority, which forms the mainstay of the rebel movement, and Christian and Alawite minorities, many of whom back Mr Assad’s regime.

via >Video: Syria violence: Women and children flee shelling in Homs – Telegraph.