White Helmets, Nusra Front’s chlorine canisters end up in Daesh’s hands: Russia

Rasa - The Russian Defense Ministry says chlorine canisters have fallen in the hands of Daesh terrorists after they attacked the headquarters of the Western-backed White Helmets “aid group” and al-Nusra Front militants in northern Syria.

News ID: 440962

Date: 11 October 2018 - 11:24

RNA - The head of the Russian Reconciliation Center, Major General Vladimir Savchenko, announced in a Wednesday statementthat pro-Daesh terrorists on Tuesday evening “attacked the headquarters of the detachment of the terrorist organization Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham," formerly al-Nusra Front, in al-Lataminah village in Hama province.

“As a result, four militants and two employees of the White Helmets organization were killed. Two chlorine containers were stolen from the headquarters room,” the statement added.

The Russian official went on to say that the stolen chlorine containers were transported to the south of the Aleppo province and handed over to terrorists of Harras al-Din terrorist group, associated with Daesh.

Savchenko blamed Western countries supporting the militants for their “irresponsible actions”, which have led to a situation in which terrorists can gain access to chemical agents.

The chemical agents have ended up in the hands of Daesh terrorists, whose actions are impossible to predict, the statement added.

The statement came a few weeks after the Russian defense ministry warned terrorists and the White Helmets group, which stands accused of working with Takfiri militants and launching false-flag gas attacks in Syria, have met in the northwestern province of Idlib to stage a chemical attack which they will blame on the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

In early September, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said based on “irrefutable” data terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front, and members of the so-called rescue group met in Idlib to prepare the final scenarios for the chemical attack which will target the cities of Jisr ash-Shugur, Serakab, Taftanaz and Sarmin.

Also in August, Russia’s Defense Ministry had noted that eight canisters of chlorine had been delivered to a village near Jisr al-Shughur city in Idlib, and that a foreign-trained group of militants had also arrived in the area to simulate a rescue operation after the staged attack.

Russia said the terrorists aimed to stage the chemical attacks and lay the blame on the Syrian government to provoke a western attack as the Assad government was planning to launch a full-scale offensive to retake the militant-held Idlib province.

The offensive, however, was called off after Russia and Turkey agreed to enforce a new demilitarized zone in Idlib from which "radical" rebels were required to withdraw by October 15.

'1,000 terrorists leave demilitarized zone in Idlib'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday that over 1,000 militants have left the demilitarized zone in Idlib, the last stronghold of militants.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in the Black Sea resort of Sochi and announced an agreement on Idlib.

The deal stipulates a demilitarized zone of 15-20 kilometers in Idlib along the contact line between the armed opposition and Syrian government troops by October 15. It also involves the withdrawal of “radically-minded” militants, including the al-Nusra Front, from the region.

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