Mortar shells rain down on neighbourhoods in the city of Homs.

The attacks are nothing new in this part of Syria, where government troops have been regularly bombarding rebels for months.

But now President Bashar al-Assad has assured the United Nations that these attacks will stop.

Assad said he will respect a ceasefire with rebels due to take effect from the morning of Thursday April 12th.

This amateur footage - which cannot be independently verified by Reuters - was purportedly shot on Wednesday, hours after Assad's assurances, and less than 24 hours before the truce.

Reports suggest that the military has remained on the offensive in a number of anti-Assad strongholds, rather than begin withdrawing.

Assad's forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the past year according to U.N. estimates, while Damascus says rebels have killed over 2,500 security personnel.

Simon Hanna, Reuters.