The assault on Homs's restive areas has, so far, been conducted primarily through shelling. Snipers are everywhere, and Homsis still live in fear that Assad's security forces will launch a ground assault on their neighborhoods. "They are planning a massive ground invasion of Baba Amr, no matter what the cost is and no matter what the number of casualties is, even if they have to annihilate everyone in the neighborhood," a Syrian activist told CNN last week.