Amateur video footage uploaded to a social media website purports to show the Syrian city of Homs under heavy bombardment.<br/> <br />Reuters cannot independently verify the contents of the footage.<br/> <br />Activists say at least 16 people were killed and some 340 wounded on Tuesday during a heavy artillery barrage.<br/> <br />One activist in the Baba Amro district told Reuters that "Several shells are falling each minute", adding that two children were among the victims.<br/> <br />Opposition sources say the offensive has lasted 18 days so far, with government forces backed by tanks and heavy armour advancing on the Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of Baba Amro.<br/> <br />And in the latest sign the 11-month uprising is taking a grip of the Syrian capital as well as the provinces, activists say four people were wounded when security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Damascus overnight.<br/> <br />The International Committee of the Red Cross is in talks with the authorities and opposition fighters for a ceasefire to allow vital aid to reach civilians and for the wounded to be evacuated.<br/> <br />Nick Rowlands, Reuters.
