The Pentagon has issued a stern rebuke to Syria over claims the regime could use chemical weapons against "external aggression".
A truck burns after shelling in the suburb of Erbeen, in Damascus.
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Burned out trucks at the Syrian border crossing building with Turkey at Jarablus.
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Free Syrian Army soldiers stand near a fallen Syrian flag at the Bab al Salam border crossing.
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Syrian refugee camp near Zakho, on the Syrian border with Iraq.
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A damaged building in the al Midan neighbourhood of Damascus.
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A fire burns after shelling in the suburb of Erbeen, in Damascus.
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Severely damaged buildings in Juret al Shayah, Homs.
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Free Syrian Army soldiers near a damaged building at the Bab al Salam border crossing to Turkey.
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Syrian refugees walk from the container city in Kilis at the Turkish border with Syria after clashing with police during a demonstration over their living conditions.
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View from the hill village of Buqaata in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights, smoke ascends from alleged shelling by Syrian government forces in the Syrian village of Jebata al Khashab.
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President Bashar al Assad's tanks at al Mezza in Damascus.
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Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi says chemical weapons will only be used in the event of external aggression.
The US has warned Syria not to even consider using chemical weapons after the regime suggested its arsenal might be employed against "external aggression".
It is the first time that the Syrian government has openly admitted possessing unconventional weapons.
Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a news conference in Damascus that they would not be used against Syrians but said they could be used in the case of "external aggression".
The comments prompted a swift response from the Pentagon, with a spokesman saying Syria should not "think one iota" about using the weapons.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the suggestion the regime would use its chemical weapons was "unacceptable" under any circumstances.
UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon expressed concern that Syria might be tempted to use weapons of mass destruction if it felt threatened by foreign intervention. He said their deployment would be "reprehensible".
Israel has been closely monitoring developments regarding Syria's arsenal, thought to include nerve gas and biological agents, largely because of fears that they might be smuggled to Hizbollah in Lebanon.
The Israeli government has warned that it would consider military action to prevent the weapons falling into the hands of the Iranian backed Lebanese militia which fought a war with Israel in 2006.
Inside Syria, fighting has continued in the two largest cities. In the suburbs of Aleppo, videos posted online showed rebels from the Free Syrian Army attacking government tanks.
The city - Syria's commercial centre - is one of the regime's strongholds and had been largely immune to the violence that has swept across the country.
Damascus is reported to be quieter than in recent days, but the government is still battling rebel units in several northern neighbourhoods of the capital.
It has deployed tanks from the 4th division, commanded by President Assad's brother, Maher. Witnesses say the regime is also using helicopter gunships, causing widespread damage to buildings and homes.
Thousands of residents are thought to have fled Damascus.
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