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Syrian forces bombarded the protest city of Homs Saturday, killing more than 200 civilians in a "horrific massacre," activists said, as Russia again cast doubt on a UN vote condemning months of bloodshed.

The Damascus government denied involvement in the pre-dawn assault, blaming groups trying to incite unrest ahead of Saturday's Security Council vote, as television images showed bodies and buildings destroyed in the city.

France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, condemned this "further step in savagery," calling it a "crime against humanity."

In an apparent allusion to Moscow, it said anyone hindering condemnation of the violence and steps toward a political solution would "bear a heavy responsibility in history."

Opposition groups again demanded the world act to end a campaign they say has killed at least 6,000 people since March, and angry protesters stormed Syrian embassies in Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Kuwait and London.

Opposition groups put the death toll at between 217 and at least 260; if confirmed, the violence would be the deadliest in the nearly 11-month uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"Assad forces randomly bombed residential areas in Homs, including Khaldiyeh and Qusur, which resulted in at least 260 civilians killed and hundreds of wounded, including men, women, and children," said the Syrian National Council.

The "Assad regime committed one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria," it said.

Assad's forces also "bombed" the flashpoint northern town of Jisr al-Shughur, near the border with Turkey, and suburbs of Damascus, it said.

Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya television showed dozens of bodies and scenes of chaos as tweets claiming to be from residents said Homs "is bleeding" under the bombardment, one counting "366 explosions tonight so far."

"It's a real massacre," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, calling for "immediate intervention" by the Arab League.

The Observatory said its count was at least 217 dead and several hundred wounded in Homs, a flashpoint of the Syrian uprising, which follows others in the Arab Spring revolt that began more than a year ago.

Al-Jazeera said witnesses spoke of nail bombs exploding and incessant shelling.

Resident, Danny Abdul Ayem reported "non-stop bombardment... by tank shells and mortar bombs."

"The bombardment stopped this morning, and residents emerged to look for the dead and wounded in the debris," activist Hadi Abdullah told AFP by phone from Khaldiyeh, adding that "nearly 200 martyrs" were prepared for burial.

"The regular forces can't enter those districts outside their control, but surround them with a large number of tanks."

A medical student told Al-Jazeera the local hospital was struggling to cope.

"There is a lack of blood, a lack of oxygen... There is danger in the streets," he said. "We are overwhelmed. We have opened the mosque next door" to the wounded, he said.

AFP was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the videos, nor of opposition and residents' accounts because of restrictions on reporting in Syria.

But the government denied its army had shelled Homs and accused television stations of "inciting" violence, the official SANA news agency said.

"The civilians shown by satellite television stations are citizens who were kidnapped and killed by armed gunmen" it accused of "wanting to use that information to (pressure) the Security Council."

A diplomat at the United Nations said the Security Council was expected to meet between 1400 and 1500 GMT and vote later on a resolution of condemnation.

But there were new objections from Russia, which opposes a resolution that can be used to justify foreign military intervention, call for Assad to quit or impose an arms embargo on Syria.

"The draft does not suit us at all and I hope that it is not put to a vote," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lavrov will meet later Saturday, amid a renewed American push for passage of the resolution.

The Syrian National Council demanded Russia change its position and "clearly condemn the regime and hold it responsible for the massacres, to stop the killing in Syria."

Syrians must be allowed to "democratically elect a regime that ensures freedom and dignity for all Syrians," the SNC said, urging people to take to the streets.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned "in the strongest terms the new attack by the Syrian regime on the people of Homs.

"Far from halting their policy of repression, the Syrian authorities have taken a further step in savagery. The massacre of Homs is a crime against humanity, its perpetrators must answer for it," he said in a statement.

"This unbridled violence underlines the urgency for the United Nations Security Council to end its silence in order to condemn the authors of this crime and open the way to the implementation of the Arab League's political plan.

"The international community must recognise and support the right of the Syrian people to freedom, security and the choice of their political future.

"Those who would hinder the adoption of such a resolution would assume a heavy responsibility in history."

The Muslim Brotherhood, part of the SNC, called for an international probe into the "heinous massacre perpetrated in Homs" and for those responsible to be brought before the International Criminal Court.

"Assad has transformed Homs into a real battlefield, waging a war of extermination against his own people," Brotherhood spokesman Zuhair Salem said in a statement.

AFP