United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos held talks in Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday and is on her way to the devastated city of Homs, a UN spokeswoman said.

'She just completed a meeting with the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and is now en route to Homs,' Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters in Geneva.

Amos, who was denied access to Syria last week, was in the country on a three-day mission to try to persuade authorities to grant unhindered access for aid workers to deliver life-saving assistance to civilians.

Syrian tanks bombarded opposition areas in Homs overnight and the Red Cross tried for a sixth day to gain access to Baba Amr, a fallen rebel stronghold where activists have reported bloody reprisals by President Bashar Al-Assad's forces. – Reuters