( CNN ) -- It 's been a month since the `` cease-fire '' was due to come into effect in Syria as the first step in a U.N.-backed peace plan , with a team of U.N. monitors on the ground to observe the progress . But clearly , there is no let-up in the violence . Daily reports spill in of bombings , shootings , explosions and more as opposition groups and the regime forces of President Bashar al-Assad battle for more than a year . So , where does the Syria conflict stand now ? First , it 's very difficult to get a clear picture of the extent of the violence in Syria , who 's perpetrating it and where . The international media 's access is very limited , and the U.N. observer mission -- still not at full strength -- is unable to monitor all hot spots . But there is certainly no cease-fire ; opposition groups report daily attacks by regime forces , which continue to use indiscriminate artillery fire . The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 60 people were killed in the first three days of last week . U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the Security Council last week that there has been a shift in the military 's tactics , according to diplomats , with a decline in the use of heavy weapons and large-scale operations . But there have been widespread arrests recently . The special U.N.-Arab League envoy , Kofi Annan , echoed that view . Diplomats say he expressed concern that arrests and torture were increasing and that government forces `` continue to press against the population . '' Observer on Syrians ' stories : 'They burned my heart ' The Syrian security forces finally broke the back of popular resistance in the Bab Amr district of Homs early in March , but killings continue in the city . There 's also been substantial bloodshed in Hama since then , where an uprising in 1982 was savagely put down by the current president 's father . In Idlib province in the northwest , the resistance remains strong . Journalists have reported burned-out tanks near the provincial capital , which is ringed by checkpoints . Soldiers do n't enter some towns for fear of ambush . Elements of the Free Syrian Army appear to be able to operate in mountainous areas near the Turkish border . Their aim is to turn it into a `` government-free zone . '' In the south , where it all started more than a year ago , there are daily reports of security forces opening fire and using artillery against what the regime deems to be opposition neighborhoods . What has really changed in the past few months , starting in Damascus in January , is the emergence of a bombing campaign against key government installations . On Thursday , the deadliest bomb attacks yet killed at least 55 people , according to the Interior Ministry , wounded nearly 400 and caused widespread devastation in the Qazzaz neighborhood of Damascus . A bomb also exploded near a U.N. observer convoy in southern Syria last week . The Syrian Interior Ministry blamed `` terrorist suicide attacks '' for the carnage and says most of the victims are civilians . It does seem that jihadist cells are emerging in Syria . One calls itself the al Nusrah Front and provided video evidence of a suicide attack carried out in Damascus in January . It also claimed responsibility for a bombing in Damascus last week . Some of its claims can not be substantiated , but U.S. officials have expressed anxiety about a growing jihadist element in the resistance . Most Syrian protesters have little sympathy for Islamist militancy and have begun waving posters insisting there is no al Qaeda in their midst . The opposition Syrian National Council alleges the regime itself is staging such attacks to paint the resistance as terrorists and is itself in league with al Qaeda . Is al-Assad shooting himself in the foot ? Of particular concern to the regime is the recent spate of protests and bomb attacks in Aleppo , the commercial heart of Syria , which until recently was spared the worst of the violence . A blast near the Baath Party headquarters Friday was the latest in a string of attacks . If these attacks are the work of the government as the opposition alleges , it would be a high-risk strategy . Bottom line : Although street protests persist , the resistance has become more militarized and is beginning to resemble the early stages of the Iraqi insurgency in 2004 . And the security forces continue house-to-house raids and mass arrests , while relying less on the sort of shelling that reduced parts of Homs to rubble . More : Bashar al-Assad : President defined by violence | Al-Assad 's wife , Asma .
It 's been a month since a `` cease-fire '' was due to come into effect in Syria . There has been no relief from the violence despite the U.N.-backed peace plan . The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet on Monday, and Russia will be present for that meeting as well.