Syrian government warplanes on Tuesday launched deadly airstrikes against rebel-held areas in the north, killing 43 people, activists said, DPA reported.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes targeted rebel positions in Maaret al-Noumaan, an area near the border with Turkey that the rebels captured last week. Rebel positions in the norther areas of Idlib and Aleppo were also hit.
Opposition websites said government warplanes also hit targets in the province of Deir al-Zour, close to the borders with Iraq.
The Observatory said government forces also shelled areas in Damascus and clashed with rebels east of the capital.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday in Geneva that the European Union should plan for larger numbers of refugees from Syria, even if the migration flow has been low so far.
Some 16,500 Syrians have sought asylum in the EU, Norway and Switzerland between January 2011 and August 2012. Germany has received most of these asylum applications, followed by Sweden and Switzerland.
President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Tuesday calling for parliament to hold by-elections on December 1 to fill up five seats, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
Two of the vacant seats belong to lawmakers who defected to Turkey.
The Arab League said Tuesday it supports a call for ceasefire by UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
Brahimi, who is currently in Cairo, met with Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr to discuss his efforts to secure a ceasefire.
The Algerian diplomat visited Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran. Unconfirmed reports said that he might head to Syria but there was no official confirmation from Damascus.
Brahimi is expected to hold talks with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi later Tuesday or Wednesday.
Deputy UN Secretary General, Jan Eliasson, said in New York that Brahimi will be based in Cairo starting next week.