( CNN ) -- Dozens more people were reported killed by government troops and police in Syria on Tuesday , a day after what opposition activists said was the single deadliest known day of anti-government protests . The Local Coordination Committees , an opposition umbrella group , said 78 people died across four Syrian provinces . Most of them were in Idlib , where the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 60 to 70 Syrian army defectors were gunned down Monday as they tried to flee their posts . The Syrian Observatory 's Rami Abdul Rahman said another 40 civilians were killed the same day `` across Syria during house-to-house raids , arrests , and clashes between army defectors and the Syrian army . '' `` Monday may have been a day with the highest death toll in Syria , between 100 and 110 killed in total , '' he said . The Syrian government maintains that it is cracking down on armed terrorists who attack security forces and civilians . The activists say the government 's brutal crackdown against peaceful protests has led to the deaths . CNN could not independently verify the allegations because Syria restricts the activity of journalists in the country , and the Syrian government did not immediately respond to the claim . Tuesday , the LCC said 59 people were killed in Idlib , with another 14 in Homs , three in Hama and two in Daraa . All had been shot to death by government forces , the group said . The uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime has claimed an estimated 5,000 lives since March , the United Nations says . As violence raged on Tuesday , state television announced that the government will execute anyone who participates in terrorist acts or distributes weapons . A new law published Tuesday specifies that anyone who distributes weapons for the purpose of committing terrorist acts will get the death penalty , according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency . It also mandates a life sentence of hard labor for weapons smugglers who intend to traffic them for terrorist acts . Monday 's deaths came the same day that Syria signed an Arab League proposal aimed at ending the violence . The Arab League expelled Syria over its crackdown . The signing came just days after the Cairo-based group of Arab nations warned it could ask the U.N. Security Council to intervene in the restive country . Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem announced Monday that Damascus had signed the deal , insisting : `` We want a political solution . I do not want the killings to go on . '' On Tuesday , permanent members of the Arab League met in Cairo , saying they welcomed the signing of the proposal . Members also stressed `` the emphasis and the paramount importance of the commitment of the Syrian government to fully implement '' the accord . Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun was not impressed by the signing of the agreement . `` The Syrian regime is playing games and wants to buy time . We are quite surprised that the Arab League is allowing this to take place , '' the head of the Syrian National Council said Monday in comments on Orient TV from Tunisia . Separately , Ghalioun urged the international community to enforce a buffer zone to protect civilians . Council members meeting in Tunisia declined to say whether they would support the use of foreign military force to enforce such a zone , but stressed their belief that international intervention is necessary . `` This regime has proven time and time again that it is a regime built on lies and force , '' Ghalioun told CNN . `` We need a safety zone to protect and prevent efforts by the regime to transform the crisis into a civil conflict . '' Five Arab League ministers drafted a resolution Saturday calling for the end of violence and approving an observer mission in Syria . World powers have denounced the Syrian government 's activity , saying they are looking for ways to rein in violence and urgently contain the threat of civil war that is reflected in the emergence of the armed defector force . CNN 's Rima Maktabi and Journalists Taylor Luck and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report .
NEW : The UN reports 78 deaths , most in Idlib . Monday 's violence may be worst of the uprising to date . The call to execute terrorists is a major threat against Syria . The United Nations estimates that about 5,000 have died in Syrian violence this year .