At least 22 people were killed today when a car bomb exploded in front of a mosque in Daraa province of southern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Among the dead in the blast in the rebel-controlled town of Namar were a woman and a child, the Britain-based monitoring group said.
In northern Syria, the Observatory reported 10 people killed when regime helicopters dropped explosive-packed "barrel bombs" on Aleppo city.
The attacks targeted the Bab al-Nairab district of the Old City and the southern Salahin neighbourhood.
North of Aleppo city, the Observatory said jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group extended their advances, seizing Baghaydin village near the border with Turkey.
On Wednesday, IS fighters captured eight villages in the area between Aleppo and the border from rival rebel groups.
Those advances came after clashes that killed at least 40 fighters from rebel groups, as well as 12 IS fighters, according to the Observatory.
The successes open the way for IS to move towards two strategic prizes -- Aazaz and Marea.
Marea is a stronghold of the Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist groups that is among those fighting against IS.
Aazaz sits next to a border crossing with Turkey, which would be a valuable asset as IS seeks to expand its self- declared "caliphate" in the territory it holds in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
IS emerged from Al-Qaeda's one-time branch in Iraq, and initially fought alongside Syria's opposition, including more moderate rebels and Al-Nusra fighters.
But its abuses and harsh brand of religion prompted a backlash from rebel groups that pushed it out of many opposition-held areas earlier this year.
Since then, it has staged a comeback, bolstered by weaponry obtained in advances across the border in Iraq.
One analyst warned today that the fate of Syria's "Western-backed opposition in northern Syria hangs quite literally on a knife-edge" as IS advances in northern Aleppo and regime forces advance in Aleppo city.
More than 170,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of its conflict in March 2011, according to the Observatory.
