Syrian activists accuse government of 'toxic gas' attack

Syrian activists have accused government forces of killing at least five people with "toxic gas" during clashes on Tuesday in a town that was the site of a deadly Sarin attack in 2013.

"The Assad regime again used chemical weapons against civilians in Moadamiya, with regime warplanes dropping barrel bombs containing a so-far unidentified toxic gas on the south of the town," the group posted on Facebook.

Middle East Eye was not able to independently verify the reports.

Moadamiya, in eastern Ghouta, was one of the sites hit in an August 2013 Sarin gas attack, which left hundreds dead and ultimately led to a US-Russian agreement to strip Damascus of its chemical weapons.

Other reports in opposition media said the Ghouta Specialist Hospital had reported 10 people dead, including a 12-year-old. 

More than 30 others displayed symptoms such as runny noses and uncontrollable salivation that later developed into blood, said the hospital. Other symptoms included involuntary urination and defecation, and seizures that led to suffocation.

A Syrian security source denied that armed forces had used chemical weapons on the town, calling the accusations "baseless". 

"This is a cheap ruse and a broken record that they are using in an attempt to justify their defeats," he told AFP.

Photos and video footage posted by the group depicted men being carried into a chaotic field hospital as women wailed in the background.

Some of the men wore breathing masks while others had tubes that seemed to be removing blood from their lungs.

At least one man was wearing military clothing.

Moadamiya was one of several areas around Damascus where local ceasefires had brought relative peace for more than a year. 

But fighting there has resumed in recent days, and the town has been struck by heavy shelling and barrel bombs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based group identified five men who were killed from the alleged chemical attack as opposition fighters who clashed with the Syrian government on Tuesday.

It could not confirm if a toxic gas attack took place.

The Istanbul-based Syrian National Coalition opposition group also accused the government of a chemical attack. "Cases of suffocation... in Moadamiya, rural Damascus, after being targeted with toxic gas by Assad," it wrote on Twitter.