Death toll soars in Ghouta

Fresh regime strikes killed 32 civilians yesterday in a rebel-held enclave near Damascus where overwhelmed medics were still treating the survivors of the Syrian conflict's bloodiest day in months.

The district of Eastern Ghouta, controlled by jihadist and Islamist rebel factions, suffered some of its worst bloodshed in years on Tuesday and the toll continued to mount overnight.

"The civilian toll is now 80. Two wounded people died after midnight," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights about Tuesday’s death toll.

Nineteen children and 20 women are among the dead, and around 200 were wounded.

Despite a de-escalation deal among powers, bombardment in Eastern Ghouta has increased in recent days, including with suspected chlorine-filled munitions.

Yesterday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that "all indications" pointed to the Syrian government's use of chlorine weapons in Syria.

Chlorine is suspected of having been used on two occasions this month alone on Eastern Ghouta.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a fact-finding mission mandated "to establish the facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals .... is investigating all credible allegations."

The world's chemical watchdog voiced "grave concern" over the new reports.

The US State Department said on Monday it had recorded six suspected chemical attacks in Syria in the past 30 days.

The United Nations has said it is looking into reports of chemical attacks in Syria, and called on Tuesday for a month-long ceasefire across the country for civilians' sake.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict in Syria erupted in March 2011.