Syrian anti-regime protesters took to the streets of Damascus and other major cities, monitors said, as the Syrian army continued in the violent crackdown on protesters, leaving more deaths.

As many as 88 people have been killed by the fire of Syrian forces in a new massacre in al-Hulla neighborhood in Homs.

Army tanks were deployed on Friday in Syria’s second city Aleppo for the first time since an uprising against the regime erupted 14 months ago, a monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the tanks rumbled through the Kalasse and Bustan al-Kasr neighborhoods of the northern city, where thousands of people attended a funeral.

Protests took place at dawn in five residential neighborhoods of the capital in support of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), and in demand for the downfall of coward Bashar al-Assad.

Bloody violence continued across the country despite the presence of a U.N. observer mission tasked to watch a non-existent ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Kofi Annan whose peace plan has failed to stop the violence in Syria, would travel to the country when the time was right.

The outgoing leader of Syria’s largest opposition group Burhan Ghalioun said on Thursday that the deeply-divided opposition had failed its people.

“We were not up to the sacrifices of the Syrian people. We did not answer the needs of the revolution enough and quickly enough,” Ghalioun said.

On Thursday as well, a U.N. panel reported that Assad regime forces were to blame for most abuses in the violence that has raged on daily despite a U.N.-backed ceasefire supposed to take effect April 12.

More than 12,600 people have been killed in Syria since the revolt against Assad’s rule broke out in March last year, including more than 17, 00 since the U.N.-backed truce took effect.

Source: Al-Arabia