- Shelling hits a crowded Homs neighborhood at dawn
- A spokesman for Kofi Annan says the peace plan is "on track"
- The head of a political opposition organization to arrive in China on Sunday
- Burhan Ghalioun will meet foreign ministry officials during his trip
Are you there? Send us your images or video. Also, read this report in Arabic.
(CNN) -- Syrian forces shelled an opposition neighborhood Saturday, activists said, a day before a leader of a political opposition group is expected to arrive in China for talks.
Shelling hit a crowded Homs neighborhood at dawn, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria. Two defecting police officers were killed in a separate attack in the city, the group said.
As forces targeted the city, the head of the opposition political group, the Syrian National Council, is expected to arrive in China on Sunday.
Burhan Ghalioun will meet foreign ministry officials during his trip, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier this year, China and Russia derailed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an end to attacks on peaceful protesters.
The latest attacks Saturday escalated doubts about the regime's willingness to comply with the peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan to end the 14-month uprising.
A day earlier, government snipers and other forces stalked opponents in homes and neighborhoods in a campaign of gunfire, shelling and arrests, the coordination committees said. At least 37 people died in the violence, including five in Homs and four in Aleppo, according to the opposition group.
CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria because the government has restricted access by most of the international media.
A spokesman for Annan said it will take time for the plan to take hold.
"The Annan plan is on track and a crisis that has been going on for over a year is not going to be resolved in a day or a week," spokesman Ahmed Fawzi said Friday. "Sadly, time is a luxury that we don't have. But realistically, it's going to take a little more time to pull all the strings together, but rest assured that they are being pulled together."
While there are no big signs of compliance with the plan, he said, there are small signs such as some heavy weapons have been withdrawn and violence has receded.
The head of the U.N. mission in Syria, Gen. Robert Mood, said the government is allowing observers access and the team has seen more commitment to the cease-fire plan.
Dozens of unarmed military observers are in Syria with a total of 300 expected in the country by the end of the month to monitor the cease-fire and the peace plan.
The cease-fire went into effect April 12 and is part of a six-point peace plan negotiated by Annan.
The plan includes the government allowing humanitarian groups access to the population, releasing detainees, starting a political dialogue and withdrawing troops from city centers.
Syria's protests started peacefully in March of last year, but a government crackdown spawned violence that has left thousands dead and prompted some military defectors to take up arms against the regime forces. The government has consistently blamed the violence on "armed terrorists."
The United Nations estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the conflict while opposition groups put the death toll at more than 11,000.
CNN's Amir Ahmed and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.
