BEIRUT, Feb 10, 2012: Tanks stormed a neighbourhood in the flashpoint Syrian central city of Homs as soldiers launched a house-to-house sweep of the area to crush regime opponents on Friday, activists said.

"The tanks entered the neighbourhood of Inshaat overnight," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said troops were still deploying to the area early Friday.

Inshaat is next to the protest hub of Baba Amr in Homs, which has been wilting under a sustained week-long assault by regime forces that has killed more than 400 people, activists say.