Syrian activists say nerve gas attack near Damascus kills 1188

Syrian activists said at least 1188 people, including women and children, were killed on Wednesday in a nerve gas attack by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel-held districts of the Ghouta region east of Damascus.

140 people killed in Kafr Batna Hospitals, 100 in Sakba, 400 in Zamalka, 63 In Irbin including 16 woman and 30 child, 150 in Douma Hospital, 300 in Hammouryya, 75 Ein tarma, 100 in Mou'adamiya and Jesrin 16.

The death toll was collated from medical centers in the region, Local Coordination committees said.

According to Reuters news agency, the reported use of the chemical agents could not be immediately verified. The news coincides with a visit to Damascus by a United Nations team of chemical weapons experts.

Activists said rockets with chemical agents hit the suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar and that those killed were in the hundreds.

In the Western Ghouta, the regime air force was used to bombard parts of Mou'adamiya city and its surrounding area, which is also under bombardment by multiple rocket launchers, Syrian watchdog said.

''This is considered the heaviest bombardment inflicted on the city since the beginning of the regime attack and attempt to regain control over it, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A mature video footage from Mou'adamaiya showed tens of dead people, including women and children, and wounded people by a nerve gas attack.

Syrian Observatory calls on the UN investigation team on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, as well as all international organizations such as the Red Cross, to head directly to these devastated areas.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 largely as peaceful protests against Assad's rule. It escalated into a civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to Syrian Human rights NGO's and 1.7 million Syrians have been forced to flee to neighboring countries, the United Nations says.