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Damascus. Syrian troops besieging Homs renewed their heavy shelling of the protest city on Tuesday as Russia’s foreign minister arrived in Damascus for talks with Bashar al-Assad’s embattled regime.

And the government, which has been rocked by an uprising for almost 11 months, vowed to pursue “armed terrorist gangs” as its deadly assault on the flashpoint central city entered a fourth day.

The barrage came ahead of the arrival in Damascus of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Mikhail Fradkov, whom reports said would try to persuade Assad to quit.

Thousands of regime supporters waving Syrian flags lined the streets of the capital’s neighborhood of Mazzeh, where Lavrov’s motorcade was due to travel on its way from the airport, footage broadcast on television showed.

Many chanted, “Thank you Russia, thank you China.”

The mission is taking place on the orders of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian state media has said Lavrov is bearing a message from the Kremlin for Assad.

In Homs, shooting thought to be from outgunned rebels echoed across Baba Amro district on Tuesday morning in response to a new wave of heavy shelling and rocket attacks on their strongholds.

Abu Rami, an activist, said the explosions had continued through the night.

“There are about four blasts every five minutes,” he said. “Since this morning the shelling has been concentrated in the neighborhoods of Baba Amro, Inshaat and Jubar.

“The humanitarian situation is dire. No one can move around. There are snipers everywhere,” he added.

Other activists reached by telephone have said food and medicine were in short supply.

The clashes come a day after nearly 100 civilians were killed across Syria, activists said, with the majority dying in the fierce onslaught by government troops on Homs and its environs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 69 civilians were killed on Monday in the area after government troops launched the fiercest assault yet on the town.

The Britain-based group said another 13 died in clashes in the northwestern province of Idlib, one in Aleppo to the north and 15 near the capital Damascus.

Rights groups say more than 6,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the revolt in mid-March.

A resident of Homs said Monday’s assault was unprecedented. It had began at around dawn, with barrages of rockets, mortar rounds and artillery shells.

“What is happening is horrible, it’s beyond belief,” said activist Omar Shaker, reached by telephone as loud detonations were heard in the background.

“There is nowhere to take shelter, nowhere to hide,” he said. “We are running short of medical supplies and we are only able to provide basic treatment to the injured.”

One video posted on YouTube apparently showed a field hospital hit by shelling in Baba Amro and wounded patients lying on stretchers on the floor amid pools of blood and shattered glass.

Lavrov’s trip to Syria comes amid floundering diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed, just days after Moscow angered Western governments by vetoing a UN Security Council resolution action against its Cold War ally.

However, the Assad regime appeared to be in no mood to make any concessions.

In a statement carried by the official SANA news agency, Syria’s interior ministry vowed to push forth with its onslaught on Homs in a bid to rid the region of what it said were “armed terrorist gangs.”

“Operations to hunt down terrorist groups will continue until ... we overcome all armed persons terrorizing citizens and threatening their life,” it added.

Western powers are seeking new ways to punish Damascus amid growing outrage over Saturday’s veto by Russia and China of a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its near 11-month crackdown on dissent.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the veto a “travesty” while White House spokesman Jay Carney warned Syria’s allies that backing President Bashar al-Assad was a “losing bet.”

US President Barack Obama shied away from talk of military intervention and vowed to pursue diplomatic means.

“It is important to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention and I think that’s possible,” he said in an NBC television interview.

Russia and China both defended their vetoes, with Moscow condemning as “hysterical” the West’s angry reaction.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was preparing a new initiative with countries that oppose the Syrian regime.

Agence France-Presse