Now we will see if he is his father son? So far he is.
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Syrian government troops have started advancing on parts of Homs, after weeks of bombardment by tanks and fighters on the country's third largest city.
The latest assault, which appeared to have started overnight after power was cut to most of the area, saw troops clashing with opposition fighters when they tried to enter the opposition stronghold of Bab Amr on Wednesday.
Opposition activists said heavy fighting erupted at the al-Bassel football field on the outskirts of Bab Amr.
There were reports that elite troops of the Fourth Armoured Division, commanded by President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher, had deployed with tanks around Bab Amr.
The activists also said Syrian soldiers abandoned checkpoints in the northern part of Homs, in the neighbourhoods of Al-Khaldia and Bayada.
Heavy shelling
The troops then started a heavy shelling campaign, the activists said, adding that there was sporadic shelling of other opposition areas in and around Homs.
"Homs is now and today experiencing the worst crackdown from al-Assad batallions and Assad regimes and every district and residential area in Homs is being surrounded," Hadi Abdullah, an activist in Homs, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
"The Syrian army is using all the weapons and we are really scared because we can safely say that these areas will be a traget of severe shelling from the Syrian army."
Soldiers are reportedly also searching houses and other buildings for army deserters who have since joined the opposition Free Syria Army.
"It is obvious that they are launching a major offensive against the strongholds of the Free Syria Army," said Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from neighbouring Lebanon.
"President Assad and the government have made it clear, he has said that he wants this month to be a decisive month. They believe that in this month they can contain the opposition, they can crush the armed opposition and that's what they are trying to do."
Amin said sources close to the government said the army had almost cleared Bab Amr from fighters, but this claim was disputed by activists.
The latest reports of violence came as the international community continued to debate the Syria crisis.
Valerie Amos, the UN humanitarian chief, said Syria had denied her repeated requests to visit the country.