DAMASCUS, April 8. /TASS/. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent specialists have found no evidence of the use of chemical weapons by government troops in the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, Red Crescent representatives said on Sunday.
"I have worked in Douma’s cental hospital for seven years. There was an incident in January 2018 when we had six patients with breathing problems. After a medical examination we found no toxic agents. They underwent oxygen therapy and we had no evidence of the use of poisonous agents," Seif Aldin Hobia, a doctor working with the Red Crescent, said.
Another Red Crescent doctor, Mohammed Adnan Tbanga, said that over the period he had been working with the organizations from 2012-2018 there had been no evidence to prove the use of poisonous agents.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected as fake news Saturday’s reports on an alleged chemical attack carried out by the Syrian government forces in Douma near Damascus. Allegations about the use of chemical agents by the Syrian government forces are aimed at justifying external military strikes, the ministry said.
The Russian defense ministry also refuted reports that the Syrian forces had used chemical weapons in Douma in Eastern Ghouta. According to Head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Sides in Syria Major General Yuri Yevtushenko, the allegations that a chlorine barrel bomb had been dropped in Douma by the Syrian armed forces came from the so-called independent non-governmental organizations, including the White Helmets, which is widely known for its fake news.
Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry said on Sunday an agreement had been reached with the Jaysh al-Islam armed group (that reportedly resumed combat operations against government forces on Saturday) to evacuate its militants from Douma. The ministry stressed that allegations about chemical attacks are used by a number of Western countries to break down this operation.