Syrian government helicopters dropped barrels full of explosives on a rebel-held town near the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 50 people in two separate attacks at the weekend, activists said.

Yesterday's shelling hit near a bakery in the town of al-Bab, east of Aleppo, killing at least 24 people, said Rami Abdurrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Akram al-Halabi, a rebel spokesman.

Syrian state media said government forces killed "terrorists," which is how they describe armed rebels fighting against President Bashar Assad's rule.

The attack followed a similar bombing on Saturday, when army helicopters targeted a rebel compound in al-Bab but missed their target and hit a market, killing 26 people, Mr Abdurrahman said.

The army used barrel bombs in both attacks, which contain hundreds of pounds of explosives. Assad's forces have relied heavily on air power in the last year to regain control of opposition-held territory, particularly in the north and along the border with Turkey.

Rebels control parts of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and its commercial centre.

Assad's troops may be mounting a major operation to recapture territory ahead of peace talks planned for January in Geneva.

Assad's forces have been fighting in central Syria's rugged Qalamoun region near the Lebanese border to cut off rebel supply routes.

Yesterday, the observatory said government forces fought rebels, including members of the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, inside the town of Maaloula, near Damascus.

Maaloula lies on the edge of Qalamoun, about 40 miles north-east of the capital. The town had been firmly in the government's grip, but is surrounded by rebel-held territory.

It is near Nabek, where there have been clashes for the past three days. Nabek lies along a key highway connecting Damascus with Homs, Syria's third largest city.

Military aircraft targeted Nabek yesterday, just hours after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car near a police station in the town, killing five members of the security forces.

Rebels also fired mortar rounds into the capital and surrounding areas, killing one woman in the suburb of Harasta.

A mortar shell hit a French school in the capital's upscale Mazzeh district. There were no casualties but more than 200 students were attending classes when the shell hit.