Syrian warplanes bombed the central city of Homs on Thursday, with insurgents and troops battling on the ground as regime forces pressed an assault on rebel-held neighborhoods, an NGO said.

"Warplanes carried out two raids against the Khaldiyeh neighborhood of Homs, and both Khaldiyeh and the Old City were under heavy rocket fire producing the sound of explosions and plumes of smoke," the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said.
"Sporadic clashes were ongoing between rebels and regime forces on the outskirts of Khaldiyeh," the watchdog added.

Regime forces began a campaign to retake several rebel-held neighborhoods of Homs, often dubbed the capital of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, on Saturday.