Syrian asylum seekers are living camped out in between commuters and tourists at Milan's busy rail hub, their number growing by the day as charities and city officials try to help.

Dozens of migrants are turning into hundreds at the city's central train station, their attempts to reach longed-for destinations in northern Europe thwarted by stepped-up border controls.

Rebels have killed a top intelligence officer in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, Syrian state media said on Thursday.

"Major General Jamaa Jamaa was martyred while carrying out his national duties to defend Syria and its people and pursuing terrorists in Deir Ezzor," state television said in a breaking news alert.

Syria's chemical weapons stockpile could be shipped out of the country to be safely destroyed elsewhere, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday.

The top U.S. diplomat commented as the world's chemical weapons watchdog said it had completed nearly half of its inspections of Syrian sites where such arms are stored.

Turkey denied Thursday a U.S. newspaper report claiming it had blown an Israeli spy ring working with Iranians on its soil to the authorities in Tehran, a sign of the strained ties between the once close allies.

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government had last year revealed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting in Turkey with Mossad handlers.

The Pentagon said Thursday it plans to sell Washington's Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates $10.8 billion worth of missiles and munitions, including "bunker-buster" bombs.

The move follows a series of U.S. weapons deals in recent years that have bolstered the air power and missile arsenals of Gulf states, which view Iran as a menacing rival with nuclear ambitions.

Syria's opposition National Coalition said Thursday it will attend a "Friends of Syria" meeting in London on October 22 that is expected to focus on proposed peace talks.

The key opposition grouping said it would also hold internal discussions in Istanbul next week, culminating with a vote on whether to attend the proposed November peace meeting in Geneva.

Four Palestinian children aged between two and six died of suffocation and heatstroke in the West Bank on Thursday after being left unattended in a locked car, Palestinian police said.

They said that the four, all related, were left for several hours in the vehicle in the southern village of Tarkumia, near Hebron, while their parents harvested olives in a nearby grove, and were unable to open doors or windows.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday won a U.N. Security Council seat for the first time in a new show of determination to make its voice heard, joining Chad, Chile, Lithuania and Nigeria in taking places on the key body.

All five countries stood unopposed in an election by the 193 member U.N. General Assembly. They will replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo on the 15-nation council on January 1.

A series of car bombs hit Baghdad province on Thursday, killing at least 44 people, while 22 died in other attacks, including two suicide bombings in northern Iraq, officials said.

The attacks come as Iraq witnesses its worst violence since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.

Fear generated by near-daily violence has kept residents of Iraq's second-largest city Mosul at home this Eid rather than out celebrating the main Muslim holiday of the year.

Nineveh province and its capital Mosul are among the most dangerous parts of Iraq, with militants carrying out frequent bombings and shootings and also allegedly extorting money from shop owners.