HOMS, Syria - As much of the rest of the world are getting ready to joyfully ring in the New Year, residents in the Syrian city of Homs seemed to have few causes to celebrate. The streets are empty, and the shops are closed.

In the third-largest city of the Middle East country, anti-government protests and ensuing riots have lasted for almost 10 months, resulting in many deaths of civilians and soldiers.

A soldier, who identified himself only as Muder, was undergoing medical treatment at the Abdul-Qader Shafta hospital in Homs. His arm was in a sling. Muder was shot by a group of militants Thursday morning while providing security services for the Arab League (AL) monitors.

Dr Ali Assi, head of the hospital, told Xinhua that his hospital had received about 25 to 50 wounded; most were shot in the head or chest. His hospital had treated 2,302 wounded personnel by the middle of November, namely 1,819 soldiers, 251 policemen and 232 civilians.

Assi said his hospital also treated terror suspects on humanitarian grounds.

The ambulances and hospital walls, riddled with bullet holes, proved that the militants knew no mercy nor limits to their violence. They even opened fire in children's wards. The Shafta hospital alone has been attacked five times.

Downtown, several small stores were still open, and snowmen on the billboards were the only harbingers of the new year. But in Homs, no one was in the mood to celebrate.

In a house on Al Midan street, a man was mournfully polishing a photo of his 28-year-old son Muhammed, an anaesthetist. Muhammed was kidnapped and tortured to death by militants recently for no apparent reason.

Such tragedies are not rare in Homs as local residents said militants lurked around at night and targeted them. A local official was killed after such an attack in the early hours Thursday on Al Midan street.

The AL monitors, which had arrived in Syria Monday, visited the chaotic city for two days and said they have made initial assessments of the situation but would need more time for a final decision.

On Thursday, security forces set up checkpoints on Homs's main streets, without disrupting regular traffic.

Meanwhile, a group of local residents gathered in a downtown bazaar to show their support for the government and President Bashar al-Assad.

Among them, a 25-year-old man who identified himself as Munssef said they are "real Syrians" and those behind the attacks are their enemies.