Blasts in Homs and Aleppo kill around 25 people

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, the Reuters reports.

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."

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, says the Reuters.

The TV reporter said children were among the dead, showing a single roller skate left on the pavement.

"Is this the freedom of Hamad and Erdogan?" one man shouted, referring to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who have led the chorus of regional criticism against Assad.