Confirms U.S. stance on incident east of Damascus last week that killed more than 1000.

About 6,000 Syrians flee to Lebanon in 24-hour period.

U.S. officials are still grappling with what type of military strike might deter future chemical weapons attacks.
- U.N. envoy: Syria 'substance' may have killed 1,000 (AP)

The prospect of a dramatic U.S.-led intervention into Syria's civil war stemmed from the West's assertion that President Bashar Assad's government was responsible for an alleged chemical attack on civilians.

Highest-ranking official to point finger at Assad.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says chemical weapons were used in Syria and is accusing President Bashar Assad of destroying evidence.

Blasts hit a Sunni stronghold, in the second such attack in a week.

Shiite-based militancy has expanded its reach throughout the region.

Anti-government activists accused the regime of carrying out a toxic gas attack that killed at least 100 people, including many children, during intense artillery and rocket barrages on the eastern suburbs of Damascus.

A Damascus opposition monitoring group said 494 people had been killed in a gas attack and shelling by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The government denies using chemical weapons.