Chemical Attack Kills Hundreds In Syria

Nerve Gas Attack Near Damascus Kills 213 Including Women And Children Say Syrian Rebels As Hague Warns Use Of Chemical Weapons Would Mark 'Shocking Escalation' -- Daily Mail

* Activists claim 213 killed in government rocket strike on residential area
* A UN team is in Syria to probe chemical weapons use by President Assad
* Hague says they should be given access to site to verify claims
* Claims come as refugees flood into Iraqi Kurdistan

Syrian activists accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of launching a nerve gas attack that killed at least 213 people today, in what would, if confirmed, be by far the worst reported use of poison gas in the two-year-old civil war.

Activists said rockets with chemical agents hit the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar before dawn.

The accounts could not be verified independently and were denied by Syrian state television, which said they were disseminated deliberately to distract a team of United Nations chemical weapons experts which arrived three days ago.

Meanwhile, fighting in strife-hit country has fuelled a mass exodus of refugees into Iraq and risks exploding into a full-blown side conflict as Kurdish militias battled against al-Qaida-linked fighters in the northeast.

Read more ....

More News On Reports Of A Major Chemical Attack In Syria

Syrian activists: More than 750 killed in gas attack unleashed by Assad forces -- Haaretz/AP/Reuters
Syria opposition claims 650 dead in chemical attack -- AFP
Syria conflict: 'Chemical attacks' kill hundreds -- BBC
Activists say more than 200 killed in gas attack near Damascus -- Reuters
Syria opposition: Chemical agents kill hundreds in Damascus countryside -- CNN
Syria opposition claims hundreds dead in 'gas' attacks -- USA Today
Syrian activists accuse government of deadly chemical attack near Damascus -- Washington Post
Syrian Activists Accuse Military of Fresh Chemical Weapons Attacks -- Voice of America
Syria video 'consistent with chemical attack' -- BBC
Chemical weapons attacks kill hundreds in Syria, rebels and activists allege -- NBC
France urges U.N. to visit site of reported gas attack in Syria -- Reuters
UK to raise reported Syrian chemical weapons use at UN -- Reuters
Arab League chief asks UN to look into report of Syria gas attack -- Reuters

My Comment: So much for "red lines".