Thousands of Syrian troops loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad have encircled the city of Homs, ahead of a possible assault on the city which has been called the center of anti-government dissidence, according to an anti-government group cited, Friday by Agence France Presse. The Syrian National Council said in a statement sent to AFP in Nicosia that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was using the pretext of what it called a “terrorist” attack on an oil pipeline, Thursday, to overrun the central protest hub.

The Local Coordination Committees, which organizes anti-Assad activity, accused the government of deliberately destroying the pipeline.