Assad bolstered by Russian support, ignored appeals from world leaders to halt the carnage.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the "appalling brutality" of the operation to stamp out the revolt against Assad, and Turkey's ambassador to the European Union warned of a slide into civil war that could inflame the region.
Diplomats from Western and Arab powers, lining up meetings that could mean some decisions soon, condemned Assad in strong language. But having ruled out military intervention, they were struggling to find a way to convince him to step down.
Syria's powerful ally Russia, meanwhile, said no one should interfere in the country's affairs. Activists in Homs said tank reinforcements sent in the past two days raised the possibility of a major push to storm large Sunni residential areas, where hundreds of thousands live.
Outgunned rebels loosely grouped under the Free Syrian Army have been preparing to counter the onslaught. A spokesman for the rebel army said it was difficult to predict when a major attack would come but claimed Assad did not have sufficient loyalist forces to control the city.
"Assad's forces are relying on shelling because they do not have the numbers. We are talking about large residential areas with a big population they would have to subdue," Major Maher al-Naimi said from Turkey.
Naimi said the Free Syrian Army will defend the city "to the last drop of its blood". He declined to give details of the military balance but said that the fighting core of Assad's force was a small proportion of his forces in Homs.
"Military defections have taken their toll. This is why we see large numbers of 'shabbiha' (militiamen) and security police among his forces in Homs," Naimi said.
In Homs, activist Mohammad Hassan said a brief respite in the shelling had allowed him to leave his basement and survey the extent of the damage.
"There isn't one street without two buildings or more that are badly damaged from the shelling," he said by satellite phone.
"We are hearing from 'al-thouwar' (rebels) that a big attack could occur as early as Saturday," he added. He said artillery barrages had been directed at Bab Amro, Inshaat, Khalidya and other districts of the city where rebels have been lying low while mounting hit-and-run guerrilla attacks on the rear of Assad's troops.
"Four tanks or armoured vehicles were destroyed today on the edge of Bab Amro and some bread and medical supplies were delivered there for the first time in days by activists who crossed from Brazil Street," Hassan said. Walid Abdallah, another activist in the city, said Alawite militiamen were playing a crucial support role for the attacking troops.
"Districts such as al-Waer on the edge of the city have mostly been spared the shelling but it is now unsafe because the 'shabbiha' have begun raiding daily," he said.
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