Syria: US Funding for “White Helmets” Proves Its Support for Terrorism

TEHRAN (Defapress)-The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the additional financial support was a clear piece of evidence that Washington has been playing a leading role in supporting anti-Syria militants since 2011.

“The Syrian Arab Republic condemns the recent US decision to provide USD 6.6 million in financial aid to the White Helmets terrorist organization,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry statement read.

Washington's attempts to embolden the White Helmets have shamelessly exposed its relationship to the terrorist organization, the statement added.

Elsewhere in the statement, the Foreign Ministry blamed the United States and its Western allies for using the organization to practice terrorism, particularly in alleged chemical attacks that were staged to tarnish the image of the Syrian government and prolong the conflict.

The White Helmets are part of the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, the statement stated.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has also described the White Helmets as "a branch of al-Qaeda and al-Nusra" militant groups and a “PR stunt” by the United States, Britain and France.

Syria and Russia have accused the volunteer group of having staged a gas attack in the town of Douma in Syria's Eastern Ghouta in April. One week after the Douma incident, the trio launched a coordinated missile attack against sites and research facilities near Damascus and Homs with the purported goal of paralyzing the Syrian government’s capability to produce chemicals.

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