Body of U.S. journalist returns from Syria as death toll climbs

Amid a soaring death toll and a call for airstrikes against the Syrian regime, the body of American journalist Marie Colvin is expected to return to the U.S. today.

(CNN) Damascus - At least 12 people were killed across Syria on Tuesday as government forces took aim at cities across the country, opposition activists said.

The deaths took place in Hama, Homs, Daraa, Idlib and Damascus, said the Syrian Network for Human Rights, an opposition activist group.

Meanwhile, almost two weeks after she was killed by a rocket attack in the city of Homs, the body of American journalist Marie Colvin is expected to arrive in the United States on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Paris said.