The opposition Syrian National Council called on Monday for an "urgent" foreign military intervention in Syria after reports that 47 women and children were killed in a Homs "massacre," AFP reported.

"We request urgent Arab and international military intervention," top SNC leader Georges Sabra told a news conference in Istanbul.

Reading from a prepared text, he also called for the creation of a "no-fly zone" over all of Syria and "strikes" against the Syrian armed forces.

He urged "the friends of the Syrian people to take a steadfast position" on the bloodshed and said the regime responded to a weekend mission by international peace envoy Kofi Annan "with violence and killings."

SNC chief Burhan Ghalioun said the "international community can no longer make hollow promises and the Arab League cannot go on publishing press releases if they want to end the deadly violence.

"It is time for the international community to take serious and concrete measures to end the violence," said Ghalioun.

The bodies of 47 women and children, some with their throats slit, were found in Homs after a "massacre" that sent families fleeing the flashpoint central city, activists and the opposition said earlier on Monday.