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White Helmets help Nusra terrorists stage chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib: Report

Newly-recruited members of the Western-backed White Helmets “aid group" pose for a photograph after being graduated in the Syrian town of Mare', in the northern Aleppo district, on July 27, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Members of the Western-backed White Helmets “aid group,” which stands accused of working with Takfiri militants and launching false-flag gas attacks in Syria, are coordinating with terrorist groups to stage a chemical attack in Idlib province and accuse the Syrian Arab Army of using chemical weapons, a report says.

Syria's official news agency SANA, citing unnamed sources and local media, reported that the so-called rescue group has been particularly coordinating with terrorists from the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri outfit, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

It said that during the past few days, the White Helmets had been witnessed doing unusual activities as information was being reported about terrorists were preparing to carry out a chemical attack in the areas between Jisr al-Shughur and the northeastern countryside of Latakia province in an attempt to hold Damascus responsible for the attack.

The report also cited sources from Syria’s Idlib as telling Russia’s Sputnik news agency that members of the White Helmets had employed eight vans to transport a shipment of barrels from Idlib’s Atma factory, which is near the Turkish borders and specializes in recycling chlorine, through Ariha town in the same province until they reached Jisr al-Shughur area, all under heavy protection from al-Nusra terrorists.

The sources added that al-Nusra terrorists had been active in transporting shipments of lethal chemicals to another militant outfit in recent days amidst strict security procedures in order to prepare for staging a new chemical incident and put the blame on the Syrian government through their propaganda-spreading outlets.

On Tuesday, the United States, Britain, and France released a joint statement expressing their alleged “concerns” over a potential military attack by the Syrian army on Idlib, threatening to respond to any use of chemical weapons.

According to SANA's report, the joint statement implied that the trio was planning to stage another chemical incident and exploit it as an excuse to launch yet another attack on the Arab country, “just like what happened on April 14” this year.

The White Helmets was founded in Turkey in 2013 by former British MI5 officer, James Le Mesurier. Since its establishment, the group has received at least $55 million from the British Foreign Office, $23 million or more from the US Office of Transition Initiatives and untold millions from Qatar. 

Damascus stresses that the so-called volunteer group staged the suspected chemical attack in the town of Douma in Syria's Eastern Ghouta region on April 7. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has also described the White Helmets as “a branch of the al-Qaeda and al-Nusra" militant groups and a “PR stunt” by the US, the UK and France.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

Syrian army troopers, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have recently made major territorial gains in battles against Daesh and other foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups, almost capturing the entire southern part of the country after securing the capital Damascus and other key areas.

The major militant stronghold remains in the northwestern province of Idlib, where government forces are preparing to launch a full-scale military operation.

Takfiri militants are also in control of some areas of the western-central province of Hama, and are holding some desert regions near the border with Turkey.


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