[22] Heavy shelling continued on 29 February, as the Syrian armed forces launched a ground operation to restore control of the Baba Amr neighbourhood.

[9] Baba Amr was finally secured by the Syrian army on the morning of 1 March, as rebel forces claimed they had made a "tactical retreat" from the area, after running low on weapons and ammunition.

[13][18] According to the opposition activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, after more than two hours of shelling, at least 217 were killed in Homs, with 138 of the deaths having occurred in Khaldiya.

[26] Within a few days, the opposition Syrian National Council claimed the death toll had reached 416, and cited residents as saying at least 36 houses with families still inside were totally destroyed.

However, the SNC and Al Arabiya figures were not independently confirmed and several western media outlets (including Reuters,[29] France24,[30] BBC[31] and CNN[32]) reported the death toll at around 200.

The Free Syrian Army vowed to fight back with intense operations against the governments' forces and claimed to have destroyed an air intelligence building in Homs.

[44] The assault continued on 7 February, resulting in at least 19 deaths and 40 injuries as government forces shelled the city and attempted to move into rebel-held areas.

The BBC reported shells were hitting the Homs neighborhoods of Baba Amr, Inshaat, Bayada and Khaldiya, according to opposition and human rights activists.

[52] American journalist Marie Colvin, working for The Sunday Times of London, was killed in Homs on 22 February during an artillery attack, along with French photographer Rémi Ochlik.

[53] In her last broadcast, an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, Colvin accused the Syrian Army of perpetrating the "complete and utter lie that they are only targeting terrorists."

Describing what was happening as "absolutely sickening", Colvin said: "The Syrian army is simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians."

Jean-Pierre Perrin, a journalist for the Paris-based Liberation newspaper who had been with Colvin in Homs as recently as the previous week, claimed he had been told that the Syrian Army was "deliberately" going to shell their centre.

Mr Perrin said the Syrians were "fully aware" that the press centre was broadcasting direct evidence of crimes against humanity, including the murdering of women and children.

[60] Baba Amr finally fell to government forces on the morning of 1 March, as the Free Syrian Army claimed they had made a "tactical retreat" from the area, after running low on weapons and ammunition.

They made the decision to withdraw from Baba Amr and into other parts of Homs because "worsening humanitarian conditions, lack of food and medicine and water, electricity and communication cuts as well as shortages in weapons.

Hadi Abdallah, a Syrian activist, said: "Some of the children had been hit with blunt objects on their head, one little girl was mutilated and some women were raped before being killed," he said.

[70] On 20 March, 14 were reported killed from a new round of shelling, which continued into the next day, hitting the opposition stronghold neighborhoods of Khalidiya, Qussor, and Bayada in northern Homs.

[73] On 24 March, most rebel forces retreated from the Bab Sbaa district, under intense shelling, as the military moved in and a number of civilians were also attempting to leave the neighborhood.

[82] On 27 July 2013, the Syrian Army took control of the Khalid Ibn Al-Walid Mosque located in Khalidyeh, one of the two last rebel stronghold in Homs.

[84] The number of deaths during the artillery strikes and subsequent clashes has varied widely, with the lowest estimate for the first day of the bombardment being 181, while the highest was 416, which was later revised down.

[85] Journalist Marie Colvin in her last report before her death, said that due to the lack of identified military targets, many civilian buildings were damaged.

[33][125] EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton has stated: "I am appalled by the reports of the brutal attacks by the Syrian armed forces in Homs.

I condemn in the strongest terms these acts perpetrated by the Syrian regime against its own civilians The international community must speak with one voice, demanding an end to the bloodshed and urging Assad to step aside and allow a democratic transition.

"[126] The UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, says he has received "grisly reports" that Syrian government forces are arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in Homs after opposition fighters in the city retreated.

I am appalled by the Syrian government's wilful assault on Homs, and its use of artillery and other heavy weaponry in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas in the city.

The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have fuelled the Syrian government's readiness to massacre its own people in an effort to crush dissent.

"[128]Tunisia said it would expel the Syrian ambassador in response to what it called a "bloody massacre" and announced it no longer recognises the ruling government.

[136] Libyans and Syrians also rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Libya, "to denounce China’s decision to veto a UN resolution that would seek to end the violence and bloodshed in Syria.

Juppe said he felt "immensely frustrated" at difficulties in obtaining security guarantees to enable wounded civilians and Western journalists to be evacuated from Homs.

[121] Around 50 mostly Syrian protesters broke into their country's embassy in Greece on that morning, smashing windows and painting anti-government slogans on the walls, a police source told the AFP.