Syrian forces pounded neighbourhoods in the flashpoint city of Homs on Tuesday killing seven civilians, and opened fire in Damascus in a bid to halt the spread of protests in the capital, monitors said, even as Russia on Tuesday urged the United Nations to send a special envoy to Syria to help coordinate security issues and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven people, including a child, died in “intensive shelling” that targeted the Homs neighbourhood of Baba Amr, while the Khaldiyeh and Karm al-Zaytoun sectors were also blitzed.

Activists have said that in the past few days the regime has been bolstering its forces outside Homs, apparently to storm the city after 18 straight days of siege.