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Conflict in Syria

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Militants plotting simulation of chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib - Reconciliation center

The Russian reconciliation center has received information that militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group are plotting a provocation

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Terrorists are plotting a provocation with the use of toxic agents in the northeast of the Idlib de-escalation zone to accuse the Syrian authorities of the use of chemical weapons against civilians, Vyacheslav Sytnik, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Saturday.

According to Sytnik, the Russian reconciliation center has received information that militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) are plotting a provocation with the use of toxic agents in the northeast of the Idlib de-escalation zone.

"Terrorists have delivered by trucks containers with toxic agents, presumably choline, to the settlement of Tarmanin. According to our information, militants plan to simulate a chemical attack entailing casualties among local residents in order to accuse the Syrian government forces of the use of chemical weapons against civilians," he said.

He also said that no shelling attacks by Turkey-controlled illegal armed groups were reported during the past day.

Nevertheless, thirty-seven shelling attacks from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) were registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

"The Russian reconciliation center calls on commanders of illegal armed groups to stop armed provocations and embark on a path of peaceful settlement of the situation on territories they control," he stressed.

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.

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