The European Union has decided to impose new sanctions on the inner circle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as fresh clashes broke out across the country.

European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels say they will impose a travel ban and asset freeze against several members of the president's administration and family, including his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad.

Mrs. Assad gained recent attention after emails obtained by Britain's Guardian newspaper allegedly revealed that she went on large shopping sprees while Syria descended into violence. It is not clear if the ban would be able to prevent her from traveling to Britain, where she is thought to still hold citizenship.

Before the meeting, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the sanctions will help add pressure on the Syrian government, which he said continues its “murdering” behavior.

“It is important that the European Union today adds to that pressure on the regime with sanctions that I hope will cover not only members of the regime, but people associated closely with the regime. It is important that we tighten the diplomatic and economic strangehold on them.”

Diplomats say the full list of those targeted by the sanctions will be released when they go into effect Saturday. The European Union has already responded to President Assad's year-long bloody crackdown on dissent by imposing a broad range of sanctions, including a ban on Syrian oil imports and measures against its central bank.

Meanwhile, opposition activists reported continued violence on Friday. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told VOA three Syrian army defectors were killed during heavy fighting in Azaz, near the border with Turkey. It also said Syrian forces continued their assault on the central city of Homs – the site of a highly publicized siege earlier in the year.

Rights groups said at least 60 people were killed during violence on Thursday, one day after the United Nations Security Council called for the government and opponents to enact a peace plan proposed by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan.

Annan's spokesperson says the former U.N. chief plans to travel to Moscow and Beijing later this week for crisis talks on the issue. He said Annan is still “carefully” studying the Syrian responses to the proposal.

Meanwhile, some activists are welcoming the action taken by the Security Council. VOA spoke with a Syrian activist living in the United States, who prefers to remain anonymous. She says activists in Syria and abroad see the Security Council statement as a “successful step.”

“We see this as a very good step toward the right actions to stand with the Syrian people and also like a very good step to establish a transitional plan.”

The United Nations says at least 8,000 people have been killed in the Assad government's violent crackdown on the revolt, which began with peaceful protests and became increasingly militarized as army defectors attacked pro-Assad troops who assaulted civilians.

The international community will hold its second “Friends of Syria” meeting next month in Istanbul amid efforts to bring the year-long government crackdown to an end. The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend the meeting on April 1.