No injuries were reported when the first vehicle in a UN convoy was hit as it headed for Ghouta, east of the Syrian capital, but the team had to head back toward their base, said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.
"The first vehicle of the chemical weapons investigation team was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area," Nesirky said.
"As the car was no longer serviceable, the team returned safely back to the government checkpoint," he added.
"The team will return to the area after replacing the vehicle."
The foreign-backed armed men also fired a hand-made rocket at the residence of the international inspectors near 'Four Seasons' hotel in Abu Ramanah district in Damascus on Monday, but other sources reported that the area came under mortar attacks.
The rocket hit Ibn Khaldoun School, leaving three people wounded.
The Syrian government complains that the foreign-backed terrorists have targeted people by such weapons while the western media and officials claim that the Syrian government has used them against its own people.
The Syrian foreign ministry announced earlier that the Damascus government and the UN agreed to a mutual understanding that entered into force immediately, allowing the UN inspection team to investigate the alleged chemical weapons use in Damascus countryside on August 22.
The agreement states that the team, headed by Prof. Ake Sellstrom, should coordinate with the Syrian government on the date and time of the team's visit to the sites agreed upon by the two sides.
The agreement came during a meeting between Syria's Deputy Prime Minister Foreign Minister Walid al-Mullem and the UN High Representative for Disarmament, Angela Kane, earlier this morning.
Muallem expressed Syria's readiness to cooperate with the UN investigators to expose the false allegations of the terrorist groups accusing the Syrian forces of using chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta.
MRKD/NJF