Debris litters the streets of Aleppo; in a suburb of the city, the bodies of scores of men were found in a river.
- NEW: The bodies of more than 80 people are pulled from a river, activists say
- U.S. increases humanitarian assistance for Syria
- 110,000 more refugees registered with the United Nations in January
- Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon have the highest number of Syrians who have fled
(CNN) -- Dozens of people were found slain execution-style in bloody Syria Tuesday, yet another grisly act that opposition activists blame squarely on the government.
The corpses were of at least 81 men who were apparently executed. Residents found them in the Queiq River in the town of Bustan Al-Qasr, near Aleppo city, opposition activists said, and they were pulled from the river.
An opposition video -- the authenticity of which couldn't be verified -- showed a long row of men sprawled on the muddy river bank with head wounds. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and some of the bodies showed signs of torture.
Abu Faris, an opposition spokesman in the Aleppo countryside, said the names of 20 of the victims were confirmed by families, who said their relatives were arrested and detained by Air Force Intelligence in Aleppo. The agency is regarded as one of the government's most important and notorious units.
It was the latest report of mass deaths in the Syrian civil war, an all-out battle between President Bashar al-Assad's government and insurgents.
Rebels place weapons in the back of a truck as they prepare to engage the Syrian regime forces in the village of Kurnaz on January 27. More than a dozen rebel fighters took up defensive positions in Kurnaz with light weapons against Syrian army tanks sending shells toward the village. Click through to view images from the Syrian conflict from December and January, or see photos from November.
Rebel fighters carry weapons as they prepare to fight against Syrian regime forces in the village of Kurnaz on January 27.
Rebel fighters take up positions in the village of Kurnaz on January 27.
Syrian residents flee the village of Kurnaz due to fighting between rebels and regime forces on Sunday, January 27.
Fighters from the Free Syrian Army's Tahrir al Sham brigade take positions during heavy fighting in Damascus on Saturday, January 26.
A rebel fighter screams in pain after being wounded by shrapnel from a hand grenade during heavy fighting in Damascus on January 26.
A rebel fighter fires back at Syrian army soldiers in Damascus on January 26.
A rebel fighter aims a sniper rifle as other fighters eat their lunch during heavy fighting in Damascus on January 26.
An unexploded mortar shell fired by the Syrian army sits lodged in the ground in Damascus on Friday, January 25.
Free Syrian Army rebels look out of a window during heavy fighting in Damascus on January 25.
A Free Syrian Army rebel takes a break in Damascus on January 25.
Rebels from the Free Syrian Army patrol in the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, seen from the Turkish border, on Thursday, January 24.
Syrian rebels move through the streets of the Jabal al Akrad region, northeast of Latakia province, on Tuesday, January 22.
A Free Syrian Army fighter fires from inside a house during heavy fighting in Damascus on January 22.
A fighter walks inside a house during heavy fighting in Mieha suburb of Damascus on January 22.
Missing exterior walls of a building reveal homes in the Mieha suburb of Damascus on Monday, January 21.
Members of the Free Syrian Army pray on one of the streets of Aleppo on January 21.
A Free Syrian Army fighter moves inside a house in Haresta neighborhood of Damascus on Sunday, January 20.
Fighters fire rifles on Syrian Army soldiers at a check point in Haresta neighborhood of Damascus on January 20.
A Free Syrian Army fighter walks between buildings damaged during Syrian Air Force strikes in Damascus on Saturday, January 19.
A rebel fighter runs for cover in Damascus on January 19.
Rebel fighters stand in a house at a frontline in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on January 19.
A Syrian rebel fighter tries to locate a government jet fighter in Aleppo on Friday, January 18.
A rebel fighter ducks for cover from government jet fighters in Aleppo on January 18.
Rebel fighters take cover as they cross a street in Aleppo on January 18.
Emergency personnel gather next to the scene of an explosion in Aleppo, Syria on January 18.
An anti-regime fighter rests in a rebel controlled area of Aleppo on January 18.
Fighters watch smoke rising from a bombing in Aleppo on January 18.
Rebel fighters try to locate a government fighter jet in the sky above Aleppo during fighting on January 18.
Rebel fighters push an abandoned Syrian army tank with the aid of a tractor in Aleppo on January 18. The tank is to be repaired and used by rebels.
Emergency personnel inspect the scene of an explosion in Aleppo, Syria, on January 18.
Men pass by buildings destroyed by Syrian air force air strikes in the Duma neighborhood of Damascus on Thursday, January 17.
Free Syrian Army fighters rest in Mleha suburb in Damascus on January 17.
Damaged vehicles sit between dormitories and the architecture facility at Aleppo University, following an explosion on Tuesday, January 15. A monitoring group reported deaths and dozens of injuries.
Syrian government troops take position in a heavily damaged area in Aleppo on Saturday, January 12.
A Syrian rebel sniper takes position during clashes with government troops defending the Minakh military airport near Aleppo on Friday, January 11.
A Syrian mother and her two children walk through the mud after the first snow of the year fell the previous night at a refugee camp in Bab al-Salam on the Syria-Turkey border, on Wednesday, January 9.
A Syrian boy walks near rubbish next to tents at a refugee camp near the northern city of Azaz on the Syria-Turkey border, home to more than 7,000 people mostly from the northern districts of Aleppo and Marea, on Tuesday, January 8.
Syrians look for survivors amongst the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in the al-Mashhad neighborhood of Aleppo on Monday, January 7.
A rebel fighter, right, prepares the wires of a car-mounted camera to spy on Syrian government forces in Aleppo's Old City on January 7.
TV monitors broadcast the live feed from a camera on a car that rebels use to monitor government forces in Aleppo on January 7.
Syrians search for survivors in the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in Aleppo on January 7.
Syrians walk through debris in Aleppo after a missile hit a building January 7.
A teen rebel fighter runs behind a makeshift barrier in Aleppo on Sunday, January 6, while snipers loyal to the government monitor the street.
Smoke rises after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Deir Al-Zor on Friday, January 4.
A resident reacts to the death of two of his children who activists said were killed during shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Ansari area of Aleppo on Thursday, January 3.
Syrians carry the body of a victim who activists said was killed during the bombing in the al-Ansari area of Aleppo, January 3.
A street is filled with debris after fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels in Aleppo on January 3.
Rebel fighters inspect the debris on a street in the Bustan al-Basha district in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday, January 1.
Syrians reach for bread at a bakery in Aleppo on Monday, December 31.
Free Syrian Army fighters stand near damaged cars in Aleppo on Thursday, December 27.
A man walks near a missile on Tuesday, December 25, at an army barracks outside Damascus, Syria, that has been taken over by the Free Syrian Army.
Free Syrian Army fighters prepare a homemade missile before they launch it toward the military airport in Aleppo, Syria, on Sunday, December 23.
Free Syrian Army members display shrapnel from what they say are the remains of a rocket fired from the Syrian army in northern Aleppo on Thursday, December 20.
An unexploded bomb is seen lodged in a street in Ghouta, east of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, December 19.
A Free Syrian Army fighter aims his weapon through a hole in the wall of the structure where he is positioned in the Qastal Harami area of Aleppo on December 19.
A child sits in the back of a vehicle at the border crossing leading to Masnaa, Lebanon, as people wait to stamp their documents before leaving Syria on December 19. Click through to view images from Syria from December, or see photos of the conflict from November.
Palestinian children who fled the Syrian refugee camp of Yarmuk wait at the Masnaa Border Crossing leading into Lebanon on December 19.
Syrians line up outside a bakery offering cheap bread in Aleppo, Syria on Sunday, December 16.
A Syrian boy walks past a rebel fighter in the northern town of Darkush, Syria, on Friday, December 14.
Two men on a motorcycle lead a horse through the northern town of Darkush, Syria, on December 14, 2012.
Rebel fighters push out a boat carrying two Syrian women fleeing to Turkey through the Orontes River near the northern Syrian town of Darkush on December 14.
Passengers gather at a terminal at the airport in Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday, December 12.
A member of the Syrian opposition's Al-Buraq Brigade stands guard on a main road in the northern Syrian town of Ain Dakna near the Turkish border on Monday, December 10. Click through to view images of the fighting from December, or see photos of the conflict from November.
A Free Syrian Army fighter takes position as he aims his weapon in Aleppo's al-Amereya district on Tuesday, December 11.
Men warm themselves by a fire on a street corner in Aleppo, Syria, on Sunday, December 9.
A rebel soldier watches Al-Jazeera news in a shop near the front lines in Aleppo on December 9.
A rebel soldier prays in a shop in Aleppo on December 9.
Syrians mourn a fallen fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on Saturday, December 8.
A Syria rebel commander sits behind a desk in his bombed-out position in Aleppo on December 8.
A Syrian rebel fighter emerges from a hole in a wall in Aleppo on December 8.
Rebel fighters take part in a demonstration against the Syrian regime after Friday prayers in Aleppo on December 7.
A wounded rebel fighter is transported to a hospital in the back of a truck in Aleppo, Syria, on Thursday, December 6. At least 23 people died in Syria on Thursday, most of them in Damascus and Aleppo, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria.
Rebel soldiers stand guard inside a building in Aleppo on December 6.
Angelina Jolie, special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, meets with Syrian refugees at the Zaatari refugee camp outside Mafraq, Jordan, on December 6.
In this handout from the Shaam News Network, Free Syrian Army fighters stand guard against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Al-khalidiya neighborhood of Homs on Tuesday, December 4.
In this handout from the Shaam News Network, Free Syrian Army fighters take cover in destroyed buildings during clashes with regime forces on December 4.
Syrians cross the border from Ras al-Ain, Syria, to the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar on Tuesday, December 4.
Boys walk through a damaged area In Aleppo, Syria, seen through a destroyed car on December 4.
A man inspects rubble in a neighborhood of Aleppo on Sunday, December 2.
The bodies of three children reportedly killed in a mortar shell attack are laid out for relatives to identify at a makeshift hospital in Aleppo on December 2.
Smoke rises from fighting in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts of Aleppo on Saturday, December 1.
Syrian-Kurdish women and members of the Popular Protection Units, an armed opposition group to the Syrian government, stand guard during a comrade's funeral in a northern Syrian border village on December 1.
Photos: Showdown in Syria
The Syrian unrest started nearly two years ago when the government cracked down on civilians peacefully protesting government policies. The conflict morphed into a civil war.
Today, it is one of the bloodiest conflicts on the planet, claiming, the United Nations says, more than 60,000 deaths.
"The regime adds another massacre to its record while the entire Arab world and the international community keep watching the Syrian misery in silence and complete hypocrisy," the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In the opposition video, men can be heard shouting "this is unbelievable" and "some were children, children for God's sake."
One middle-aged man can be heard saying, "Tell the world these were not soldiers. They were not fighters. They are human beings. How come they know what the law of gravity is but they don't know anything about human rights."
The opposition groups in Syria have regularly reported massacres by government forces and their allies. Some of the more notorious such reports include incidents in Taftanaz, Houla, Homs, Hama, Tremseh, Daraya, and Halfaya. Bombings in Aleppo and Damascus have resulted in many deaths.
Great migrations
The mass displacement of Syrians, if it continues, may go down as one of the worst in recent history The number of refugees registered with the United Nations jumped by 110,000 in January, bringing the total to just shy of 585,000.
If the masses of refugees awaiting registration are included, the number burgeons to 708,477, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Read more: Fleeing violence in nighttime trek to Jordan
"It's an unrelenting flow," UNHCR spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes said in Geneva, Switzerland. In just the first hour of her workday Tuesday, the number of refugees surged by 4,000 people.
The number of Syrian refugees registered with the U.N. jumped by about 110,000 in January.
The number of Syrian refugees registered with the U.N. jumped by about 110,000 in January.
And when Syrians arrive in neighboring countries, they're extremely needy, Wilkes said, because they wait a very long time before fleeing.
"The last thing that Syrians wanted to do was leave their country," she said, adding that it's not unusual for families to be displaced internally six times before finally deciding to leave their home country.
By contrast, Iraqi refugees escaping that country during the U.S.-led invasion fled more quickly, and as a result, often still had some money in their pockets and were in better physical shape.
Syrian refugees turn up with health conditions that, for lack of treatment, require urgent attention, Wilkes said.
More women arrive who are about to give birth, she said. Recently, one woman lost a child at a U.N. station shortly after delivery because she had not received basic prenatal care.
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The flow of refugees accelerated markedly in the second half of 2012, Wilkes said.
To put the speed of the current exodus into perspective: Syria has a population of just over 22,000,000. A year ago, the United Nations had registered fewer than 20,000 refugees. Six months ago, the total number rose to 120,000. By December, the number had climbed to 471,000. And now, 585,000.
Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon are harboring the most Syrians, with more than 150,000 each.
"We have in Jordan day shifts and night shifts" to register new refugees, Wilkes said. "In Lebanon, we have double shifts."
U.S. humanitarian aid
President Barack Obama has approved $155 million in humanitarian aid for people in Syria and refugees fleeing the violence.
That brings the aid toll to $365 million, making the United States the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to Syria.
"I want to speak directly to the people of Syria," Obama said in a statement Tuesday. "This new aid will mean more warm clothing for children and medicine for the elderly; flour and wheat for your families and blankets, boots and stoves for those huddled in damaged buildings. It will mean health care for victims of sexual violence and field hospitals for the wounded. Even as we work to end the violence against you, this aid will help address some of the immediate needs you face each day."
Obama says the U.S. government has imposed sanctions against Syria, worked to isolate the regime, and backed the opposition. The United States and other nations have refrained from intervening militarily in the civil war.
"American aid means food and clean water for millions of Syrians. American aid means medicine and treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients in Damascus, Daraa and Homs. It means immunizations for one million Syrian children. American aid means winter supplies for more than half a million people in Aleppo, Homs and Deir Ezzor. And we're working with allies and partners so that this aid reaches those in need," Obama said.
CNN's Joe Sterling, Ben Brumfield, Salma Abdelaziz and Saad Abedine reported from Atlanta. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report from Beirut, Lebanon.
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