Paris Denies Involvement of Its Intelligence in Preparing Provocation in Idlib

"It is not information, but an outright lie which is habitual for this centre organised by the Russian and Syrian authorities," a spokesman for the ministry said.

Mr Kupchishin specified that the Belgian intelligence had been filming airstrikes on terrorist weapons caches in Idlib to later accuse Russia of using chemical substances, Sputnik reported.

On Friday, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry’s Center for Syrian Reconciliation, Maj. Gen. Viktor Kupchishin, said that Belgian and French intelligence officers had arrived in Idlib to hold a meeting with the field commanders of the terrorist groups of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [banned in Russia] and Hurras Al-Din, as well as with the representatives of the White Helmets organization.

Syria was plunged in a military conflict in 2011. Victory over the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group was declared in late 2017.

The Idlib de-escalation zone now remains the last major stronghold of terrorists and armed rebels in Syria. In September 2018, ceasefire guarantors Russia and Turkey agreed to set up a 9 to 12-mile deep demilitarised zone in the province, which would be cleared of heavy weapons and militants.

However, despite progress in the withdrawal of weapons and fighters from the area, militants that remain in the area regularly violate the ceasefire by shelling nearby provinces.

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