International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi begins a Middle East tour Saturday to pave the way for proposed peace talks on Syria, where dozens of people were killed in the latest fighting in Aleppo province.

The UN-Arab League representative's visit is part of international efforts to convene a peace conference in Geneva next month but prospects for the talks remain unclear, with the Syrian opposition divided and due to vote next week on whether to take part.

On the ground, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported dozens of deaths in the northern province of Aleppo Friday, including 12 Kurds killed by regime shelling in the town of Tal-Aran, where nine people were killed on Thursday.

The town lies on a strategic route between Aleppo city and Sfeirah, a town under rebel control near a military base where the regime is believed to store some of its chemical arsenal.

Elsewhere in the province, the Observatory said at least 20 regime troops and seven rebels were killed after opposition forces attacked an air defence base southwest of Aleppo city.