Syria: Twin bomb blasts hit military and security buildings in Aleppo, killing 25; Gov't forces amass near Homs, preparing for an armored assault

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Twin bomb blasts hit Syrian military and security buildings in the northern city of Aleppo on Friday, killing 25 people in the worst violence to hit the country's commercial hub in the 11-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Mangled, bloodied bodies as well as severed limbs lay on the pavement outside the targeted buildings, as shown in live footage on Syrian television, which consistently portrays the revolt against Assad as the work of foreign-backed "terrorists."

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks in Syria's second city, as officials put the total death toll in the two blasts at 25. But they came as Assad's forces grow more ferocious in operations to stamp out the popular uprising.

On another front, army tanks massed outside opposition neighborhoods in the western city Homs on Friday morning after a week of bombardments that have killed dozens of civilians and drawn condemnation from world leaders.

Activists in Homs said shelling resumed sporadically in the morning and they feared a big push was imminent to storm residential areas of the city that has come to symbolize the plight of the anti-Assad movement.

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