Bombardment of Homs: seen through video

Homs, a key city in the ongoing conflict in Syria, has been under renewed bombardment for five straight days as regime forces attempt to gain control of rebel-held neighborhoods.

The central city of Homs has paid an enormous human and material price for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime that began in March 2011.

On Friday, the Syrian opposition asked the international community “to intervene immediately'' and provide food and medicine to the besieged city, according to Al Jazeera.

In this video, plumes of smoke rise as Syria's third largest city is under attack. Heavy artillery fire can be heard in the background.

(Shaam News Network/NewsPoint)

The fall of Homs would make talks with Assad's regime unpalatable to too many Syrians, spokesman Khaled Saleh told AFP.

"Homs could pose a risk to any political solution," he said at a meeting of the Syrian National Coalition, Syria's main opposition bloc, in Istanbul.

"If Homs falls, it will be very difficult for us to explain to the families of tens of thousands of dead Syrians why we negotiated with a regime that shows us day after day that it doesn't want a political solution and that it only wants to kill more Syrians."

Here, footage shows the Khalid Ibn al-Walid mosque in Homs damaged as the bombing of the city continues.

Saleh's remarks throw into further doubt a peace conference hosted by the United States and Russia dubbed "Geneva 2" due to take place later this year.

Opposition figures are currently meeting in Turkey to elect a new leadership.

Here's a video of the devastation in Homs after a recent bombing. (Homs Event/Newspoint)