MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Militants are plotting to stage a fake chemical attack against civilian population in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone as a provocation against government forces, Alexander Grinkevich, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Monday.
"The Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties has received information that militants of illegal armed groups are preparing for yet another attempt to organize provocations with the use of toxic substances in the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone," he said.
According to the Russian reconciliation center, the settlements of Beitarun in the Aleppo governorate and Bdama in the Idlib governorate have been chosen as sites for these provocations meant to accuse Syria’s government forces of the use of chemical weapons against civilians.
Grinkevich also said that the Russian military police had conducted patrol missions from Adjami in the Aleppo governorate along two routes, towards Membij and Awshariyah. A patrol mission was conducted in the Deir ez-Zor governorate, from Hatla to Salhiyah and back. No aerial patrols were conducted.
According to Grinkevich, no shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled illegal armed groups were reported during the day. "However, two shelling attacks from the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization’s (outlawed in Russia) positions were reported in the settlements of Aye al-Qantara in the Latakia governorate and Jubas in the Idlib governorate," he added.
The Russian reconciliation center continues to fulfill assigned tasks after the completion of the military campaign in Syria. The center’s officers regularly travel around the country's liberated areas to assess the humanitarian situation. The main efforts of the Russian military are now focused on assistance to the refugees returning to their homes and evacuation of civilians from de-escalation zones.