Terrorists Plotting Chemical Attack to Blame Syrian Gov’t: Russia

DAMASCUS (Kayhan Intl.) – Terrorists are plotting a provocation with the use of toxic agents in northeast of the Idlib de-escalation zone to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against civilians, Vyacheslav Sytnik, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, says.

According to Sytnik, the Russian reconciliation center has received information that militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group are plotting a provocation with the use of toxic agents northeast of the de-escalation zone.
"Terrorists have delivered by trucks containers with toxic agents, presumably choline, to the settlement of Tarmanin. According to our information, militants plan to simulate a chemical attack entailing casualties among local residents in order to accuse the Syrian government forces of the use of chemical weapons against civilians,” he said.
Thirty-seven shelling attacks from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) were registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
"The Russian reconciliation center calls on commanders of illegal armed groups to stop armed provocations and embark on a path of peaceful settlement of the situation on territories they control,” he stressed.
Russia has repeatedly criticized the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for ignoring the information about toxic provocations in Syria, saying the body is biased against the Damascus government.
Recently, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said the OPCW is being used as a political tool by the Western countries to put pressure on the states they deem as "undesirable”.
Moscow and Damascus have on many occasions accused the White Helmets of staging gas attacks in a bid to falsely incriminate Syrian government forces and fabricate pretexts for military strikes by the U.S.-led military coalition.
The group claims to be a humanitarian NGO but has long been accused of collaborating with terrorists.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Damascus says the Western governments and their regional allies are aiding the terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the Arab country.