Militants in Idlib Planning Fake Chemical Attacks

"The remaining groups of extremists (in Syria) are currently concentrated in the de-escalation zone in the province of Idlib. Terrorists are making attempts to disrupt the ceasefire, moreover, they are carrying out and preparing various kinds of provocations, including using chemical weapons," the Russian leader stressed at the tripartite summit of Iran, Russia and Turkey on Syria on Friday.

Russia's Defense Ministry had warned that the leader of the Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group, which is affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked the Nusra Front, was planning a chemical attack against civilians in Idlib in order to provoke Western nations into retaliating against Damascus government. Thousands of militants have been reportedly transported to the province from other Syrian regions under deals conducted with Damascus.

White Helmets group plans to film videos in Syria for Middle Eastern and English-language media outlets after staging a false-flag chemical weapons attack aimed at sharply destabilizing the situation in the war-torn country, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Moscow has also accused Washington, London and Paris of preparing to carry out new strikes against Syria under the pretext of chemical weapons use by Damascus government forces.

Putin told his Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Hassan Rouhani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that driving militants out of Syria’s Idlib province should be the primary goal at this stage of the Syrian peace process.

“Our common absolute priority lies in the total elimination of terrorists in Syria,” Putin said, adding that Russian forces had recently helped to liberate the Southwestern part of the war-torn country and confirming that Idlib province has become the primary target now.

“The presence (of militants) poses a direct threat to the … civilians in the whole region,” the Russian president warned.

Putin agreed with Erdogan’s proposal to declare a ceasefire in Syria's Idlib, but underlined that it's impossible to talk for the groups that were not present at the meeting.

"There are no representatives of the armed opposition at the table and, moreover, of the Nusra Front and Daesh. I believe that the Turkish president is generally right, it would be good. But we cannot say for them, and especially we cannot say for the Nusra Front and Daesh terrorists that they will stop shooting or stop using drones with bombs," Putin added.

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of a 2013 chemical weapons attack in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, the United Kingdom, the United States and France released a statement warning that they "will respond appropriately to any further use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime". The statement also called on supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad to "use their influence to uphold the global norm against chemical weapons use".

The first Western missile attack on Syrian government forces was conducted by the United States in April 2017 after Washington had accused Damascus of being behind the alleged chemical weapons use in the settlement of Khan Sheikhoun in the Idlib province.

The US, UK, and France coordinated a massive airstrike on Syria in April 2018 after the alleged use of the chemical weapons in Douma in Eastern Damascus had been reported by the controversial "White Helmets" NGO, which has repeatedly been caught staging false flag attacks. OPCW experts announced in July they had found traces of organic substances containing chlorine, reportedly used in the attack in Eastern Ghouta.

Damascus has strongly denied the claims, with the Syrian president saying that the attack was a provocation aimed to justify the US strike on Syria.

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