Hundreds of dead cats and dogs are removed from the streets of Damascus suburb hit by nerve gas attack

Up to 1,700 civilians reported killed by alleged chemical weapons attack

Whatever it was that caused the alleged slaughter of up to 1,700 civilians in a Damascus suburb this week, it did not spare the animals in the area, according to these pictures.

These photographs show rebel fighters in gas masks apparently walking the streets of Zamalka, bagging up dead pets and livestock.

It was claimed on Wednesday that the government launched a early morning poison gas attack on the rebel-held area, wiping out hundreds as they lay sleeping in their beds.



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Aftermath: A Syrian opposition activist wearing a gas mask stands next to a dead dog as he looks for dead bodies to collect samples to check for chemical weapon use in Zamalka, east Damascus

Pet cemetery: A pile of dead animals is seen in Zamalka, one of three Damascus neighbourhoods reportedly hit by poison gas early on Wednesday morning in an attack which, rebels claimed, left up to 1,700 dead

Activists said rockets with chemical agents hit the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar before dawn.

While the allegation has not yet been proven, Western governments are lining up to condemn the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is clinging to power as a two-year-old insurgency against his rule rumbles on.

The Syrian government denies launching the attack.

These pictures, dated to yesterday and distributed by the news agency Reuters, show men walking barren streets, looking for dead bodies to gather more evidence of chemical weapons use.

They show piles of dead animals - cats, dogs, sheep and goats - apparently killed where they stood by the same poison gas allegedly used to massacre the area's men, women and children.

Devastation: Activists look for dead bodies among Zamalka's now-deserted ruins. Western governments are lining up to condemn the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the alleged atrocity

An activist poses for the camera in his gas mask: The Syrian government denies launching the attack

Activists wearing gas masks bag a dead cat as they collect samples for chemical weapon use: Any evidence gathered could prove crucial in determining what actually happened in Damascus's eastern suburbs.

Any evidence gathered could prove crucial in determining what actually happened in Damascus's eastern suburbs.

This morning, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon renewed his push for Syria to allow inspectors already in the city immediate access to the area to investigate the allegations.

'I can think of no good reason why any party, either government or opposition forces - would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter,' the UN chief told a diplomatic forum in Seoul.

Syria's government has offered no public response to UN calls for its team to inspect the site of the attack.