Diplomat warns of chemical provocations by terrorists in Syria for grounding US strikes

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. Syrian terrorists are preparing provocations with the use of chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta to ground the US airstrikes on the positions of Syria’s pro-government forces, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"According to the available information, Syrian terrorist groups are planning staged provocations with the use of chemical weapons to ground the US airstrikes on the positions of Syria’s pro-government forces," she said.

"The actions will most probably be held in a settlement inaccessible to Syria’s government, one of which is the opposition enclave in Eastern Ghouta where they previously delivered warfare poisonous agents," the diplomat specified. "In particular, the militants of the Jaysh al-Islam and Faylaq ar-Rahman terrorist groups based in Eastern Ghouta are known to have a few missiles with warfare chemical agents 150 kg each."

Zakharova added that "such provocations may happen in the country’s south, in the operation areas of the armed groups beholden to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, as well as in the east of Syria."

According to the spokeswoman, the Islamic State (IS, a terror organization outlawed in Russia) "is deploying workshops and ammunition production facilities, including for ammunition with warfare chemical agents, from the city of Raqqa to the controlled districts of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate."

"Regarding the numerous statements made by the US-led coalition that it had fully blocked the city of Raqqa, it comes to mind that the transportation of such overall equipment from the very side of the coalition shows, at least, the unwillingness to see some facts," Zakharova noted. "And, at the outside, I think that we can more likely speak of collusion with militants. We do not rule out that there may be terrorists among these militants."