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Moscow says Ahrar al-Sham militants in no way different from Islamic State

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova referred to footage of "shocking scenes filmed at the sites of clashes between the Islamic State and the so-called moderates confronting it"
Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow Gennady Khamelyanin/TASS Archive
Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow
© Gennady Khamelyanin/TASS Archive

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that there is no difference at all between the terrorist organization Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) and the so-called moderate opposition group Ahrar al-Sham: both consist of the same type of militants.

"Some mass media have published footage of shocking scenes filmed at the sites of clashes between the Islamic State and the so-called moderates confronting it," Zakharova said. "Those who saw that footage can make conclusions as to what the ‘moderate’ opposition is really like. Yet we’ve been warned and asked to believe for so long they are ‘moderate’."

Zakharova said she was mostly referring to Ahrar al-Sham militants.

"One could see pictures of smiling militants from that organization who were showing the just chopped-off heads of other militants from the Islamic State," she said. "Apparently they are worth each other. Islamic State militants and the so-called moderates are in no way different from each other in reality. The moderates are real thugs, too."