Report:

Daesh plot to copy Syria gas attack foiled in Iraq

Rasa - A plot by the Takfiri terror group of Daesh to copy in Iraq an alleged chemical strike in northeastern Syria in April and pin it on Iraqi security forces has been nipped in the bud.

News ID: 429332

Date: 30 April 2017 - 20:53

RNA - Iraq's al-Sumariah news network reported the development on Saturday, citing an unnamed security source.

The source said the terrorists had been arrested in the east of the northern Iraq city of Mosul in possession of toxic materials used in manufacturing chemical weapons and explosives.

They confessed to have received orders from their higher-ups to carry out gas attacks against the civilians fleeing them, the source said, adding the incidents were supposed to be caught on camera in such a way that would portray Iraqi forces as the perpetrators.

The terrorists said the entire scenario had been planned to mirror an alleged gas attack in the northeastern Syria Idlib Province that claimed dozens of civilians on April 4, he noted.

Blaming Damascus for the attack, the United States later carried out a missile strike against the southeastern part of the western Syria city of Homs, causing some 15 fatalities, including civilians.

The missile barrage came either before a fact-finding investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged gas attack, or a United Nations Security Council mandate.

Russia, a Syria ally, laid into the United States for the attack, saying it had seriously damaged Russo-American ties. It rescinded a bilateral pact aimed at preventing the Russian and American aircraft from clashing over Syria, and also vowed to boost the Arab country’s defenses.

Daesh has in the past used chlorine gas and other toxic agents against Iraqi security forces and civilians in Mosul. The group, which has called Mosul its so-called headquarters in the city, has already lost half of it to Iraqi forces and is increasingly losing grip over the rest.

Terrorists have also been documented, time and again, deploying the agents against the Syrian people and military. The West and its associated media outlets keep incriminating the Syrian government and military in alleged application and possession of such weaponry, while Damascus has fully handed over its chemical arms stockpiles in a UN-monitored process.

847/940