Syria opposition groups: Chemical agents kill hundreds in Damascus countryside

Syrian opposition sources and witnesses reported several explosions and serious casualties in rebel strongholds in the Damascus countryside on Wednesday -- and accused the government of using chemical agents.

The sources put the casualty count at "hundreds."

Videos posted online show lifeless bodies, most with no visible signs of injury. Many of the injured appeared to be convulsing

We could not immediately verify where or when the videos were recorded. And there was no immediate comment from the regime.

If chemical agents are being used, it comes at a time when a U.N. group is in the county to determine either side in the bloody civil war is using such chemicals.

The explosions took place in eastern and western Ghouta, rebel strongholds that the regime has for more than a year been desperately trying to take back. They don't want rebels pushing into the capital.

"The inspectors will not come," said a resident who didn't want his real name used. "If they wanted to come, they would have come a long time ago.

"The Assad regime determines where the inspectors go, and they will not let them go there. There is already a siege around Eastern Ghouta from the Assad regime."

Dr. Abu Said at a field hospital in Sakba, east of Damascus, said the injured started streaming in shortly after pre-dawn prayers. Of the 200, 40 were pronounced dead.

The symptoms, he said, included unconsciousness, foaming from their nose and mouth, constricted pupils, fast heartbeat and difficulty breathing.

The ones who died asphyxiated, he said.

A team of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors landed in Syria this week to begin probing allegations that chemical weapons have been used during the bloody civil war there. The inspectors started their work on Monday.

Syria has been embroiled in a war for more than two years, during which more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced or become refugees in other countries, according to the United Nations.

Amid the fighting, there have been numerous allegations that chemical weapons have been used.