UN inspectors in Syria to probe use of chemical weapons

Syrian army tanks patrol the streets in Latakia Damascus – George Al Shami A team of UN chemical weapons inspectors are in Syria where they on Monday were due to begin a two-week long investigation into whether chemical weapons have been used during Syria’s bloody civil war.
The inspectors are expected to travel to Khan al-Assal in the northern province of Aleppo, where regime and rebels accuse each other of using chemical weapons on March 19.
They are also expected to investigate Ataybeh near Damascus, where an attack was reported in March, and Homs, where chemical weapons are suspected to have been used on December 23, 2012.
Meanwhile the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that governmental forces ?shelled the surroundings of the Aleppo Central Prison and the town of al-Safeera in Aleppo’s countryside, at dawn on Monday.
In Damascus, an explosion was heard in the al-Abbasseyin area and according to the Sham network, a number of ?mortar shells fell in the area as violent clashes erupted between government forces and opposition fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) near Yarmouk refugee camp.
The town of Mesraba in the Damascus countryside was shelled by government, causing several injuries, whilst military aircrafts launched two raids over farms in the town of Nabq.
Areas of Sayeda Zeinab town were heavily also shelled coinciding with clashes between the army and the armed groups supporting it on one side and FSA fighters on the other.
In Deraa in southern Syria, the Observatory said violent clashes broke out between the army and the FSA in the Mansheya neighbourhood without any ?deaths reported,
In Homs, the army re-launched its shelling of Qalaat al-Hesn in the ?countryside as violent clashes took place near the bridge of al-Zara town and two mortar ?shells fell over areas in al-Sakhna town.
Homs’ besieged neighbourhoods were raided by mortar shells at dawn, without news of any casualties.
Earlier on Monday, the Syrian army recaptured rebel-held positions in Latakia, home province of President Bashar al-Assad.
The news comes after the countryside Latakia, Damascus and Deir Ezzor were hit by huge fires on Sunday as result of ?continuous shelling by Syrian governmental forces.?
Meanwhile, the FSA took control over the village of Briqa in the Golan Heights town of Quneitra.
Also on Monday, the National Coalition for Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary forces issued a statement calling on ?all Syrians to “stand in solidarity the the goals of the revolution in its efforts to ?end decades of suppression unlike any witnessed in recent history.”
The Coalition added that Syrians should work together to begin transitioning towards a country based on  justice and equality and with a  modern ?constitution that won’t allow any individual or group to fear for their security regardless of their gender, ethnicity or religion.
“All of us, with our different social, political, religious and ?sectarian differences are the sons of this great people and its great revolution. We were burnt by the ?fires of Assad’s tyranny and corruption, impoverishment and discrimination in all its forms,”? the Coalition said.
Syria\'s turmoil has not only torn the country apart, it is also dragging in neighbouring countries and stoking regional sectarian tensions. Foreign Sunni fighters have come to Syria to battle Assad while Lebanese and Iraqi Shiites have joined the fight on the president\'s side.
Fighters from al-Qaeda\'s Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant have also increasingly clashed with Syria’s ethnic Kurds in the north and north-east of the country - a factor behind a recent wave of refugees into bordering Kurdish northern Iraq.
Over 20,000 people have entered northern Iraq since Thursday in one of the largest crossings since the conflict began in March 2011, some coming from as far away as Aleppo, 450 km (280 miles) to the west.
The border between Syria and Iraq has been largely closed since authorities of the Kurdish regional government shut the crossing on May 19, apart from a single formal crossing point at Al-Wahid in the Anbar province.
The latest influx added to the 150,000 Syrian refugees already registered in Iraq.
The total number of refugees who have fled Syria is now close to 2 million, and has nearly doubled in just five months, leading some of Syria\'s neighbours to tighten border controls to stem the flows in recent weeks.