The Syrian province of Idlib is presently the last major stronghold of jihadist militants in the war-torn state following operations by government forces to push terrorists out of much of the rest of the country, although small concentrations of terrorists also continue to operate in other provinces.
Moscow is closely monitoring the situation in Idlib, Aleppo, Lattakia and Hama after receiving information that terrorists from the so-called ‘Hayat Tahrir al-Sham' (aka Nusra Front, aka al-Qaeda* in Syria) are planning to stage chemical attacks in the provinces, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone,” Zakharova said, speaking to reporters on Friday. “The terrorists operating there from the Nusra alliance are not stopping their provocative false flag attacks against government forces. Since the beginning of the year, over 460 such incidents have been recorded. Over 30 people have been killed, and 100 injured,” she added.
According to Zakharova, Moscow is “seriously concerned” by fresh reports that “militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, with the assistance of the notorious White Helmets, are making preparations for another staged attack involving the use of toxic substances, with the subsequent imposition of blame for the use of chemical weapons on government forces. “Terrorists are dispersing the…
