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Conflict in Syria

Syrian Defense Ministry blames Idlib chemical attacks on terrorists

The general staff of the armed forces of Syria strongly rejects the use of any chemical or toxic substance in Khan Sheikhun in the Idlib province

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Terrorist groups and those who support them are responsible for the purported chemical attacks in Idlib, the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

"Terrorist groups and those behind them are responsible for the use of chemical and toxic substances and for disregarding the lives of innocent civilians in order to attain their goals," the ministry said in a statement.

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"The general staff of the armed forces strongly rejects the use of any chemical or toxic substance in Khan Sheikhun in the Idlib province today and stresses that they (the armed forces) never used them before and are not going to use them anywhere, at any time in the future," the statement reads.

Reuters earlier reported, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that an airsrike by either Syrian or Russian air forces in the Idlib province left 58 people dead, including 11 children. The agency said that the attack could be carried out by Syria’s government troops, who used an unknown "toxic gas."

The Russian Defense Ministry has immediately rejected the information.

"The Russian Defense Ministry has strongly dismissed another fake report by Reuters about an alleged airstrike by Russian planes on the Khan Sheikhun area. Russian warplanes carried out no strikes in the Khan Shaykhun area, Idlib Governorate. Moreover, Reuters wrongly quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Syria, which in reality had said nothing about Russian planes being involved in the rumored chemical warfare in Khan Sheikhun," the ministry said in a statement.

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