FILE IMAGE: EPA-EFE/YOUSSEF BADAWI
Moscow has obtained intelligence that militants are plotting chemical weapons provocations in the Syrian province of Idlib, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Alexander Shulgin told the news agency TASS on October 12. He stated that this information “comes constantly”.
“We have held several meetings at the OPCW. I applied to the Technical Secretariat and handed them detailed information about a provocation in the Idlib province. We know surnames of the armed opposition leaders and the number of barrels with chlorine,” Shulgin said.
“We were hoping that the Secretariat would raise its voice, but it had never happened,” the diplomat added.
Shulgin said that the provocations are highly likely, regardless of the fact that “the creation of a buffer zone and militants’ pullout from Idlib are under consideration.”
According to the diplomat, militants could be come involved in something at “any moment”.
Previously, the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance had repeatedly warned of possible chemical weapons provocations in the province of Idlib and nearby areas controlled by militants. These provocations, according to the alliance, will be aimed at sabotaging the deconfliction deal and triggering a military action by the US-led bloc against the Damascus government.
