Damascus Obtained Numerous Eyewitness Reports On Staged Chemical Attack Plans - Ambassador

Syrian authorities have received dozens of reports from eyewitnesses about ongoing preparations for a false-flag chemical attack in the northwestern Idlib province, Syria's Ambassador to China Imad Moustapha told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2018) The Syrian authorities have received dozens of reports from eyewitnesses about ongoing preparations for a false-flag chemical attack in the northwestern Idlib province, Syria's Ambassador to China Imad Moustapha told Sputnik on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said, citing the province's residents, that the filming of a chemical weapons provocation had begun in the settlement of Jisr al-Shughur. The statement came in the wake of earlier warnings voiced by Russian officials, who, citing sources, said that militants in Idlib were preparing the false-flag chemical weapons attack to frame the government forces and spark a US-led military intervention in Syria.

"This information has been extensively corroborated by eyewitnesses from the local population who are sending us [dozens] of reports about the preparations for the staged attack, the transport of hazardous chemical material to certain areas around Jisr al-Shughur, kidnapping more than 40 children from Idlib's neighboring areas to use them as 'victims' of the planned attack, and many other reports regarding this planned staged provocation," Moustapha, who previously served as the Syrian ambassador to the United States, said.

The ambassador noted that the information, obtained by the Russian Defense Ministry, regarding the staged attack with the use of chemical weapons in Idlib did not come as a surprise to the Syrian government.

"It is déjà vu. [Such attacks have] been staged many times before at every critical juncture of Syria's war against terrorism. The terrorists' Western patrons, led by the US, are eagerly awaiting the staged attack so as to use it as a pretext for yet another naked aggression against Syria," Moustapha added.