29 Mar 2024
Sputnik - Toxic chemicals, which claimed dozens of lives in the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun, were previously used by radical armed groups against the Kurds in Aleppo, Chairman of the Syrian Democratic Council Rezan Hiddo told Sputnik Turkey. Nevertheless, Washington and its allies have blamed Assad for the attack.




"According tothe data available tous, chemical weapons, which were dispersed inthe settlement ofKhan Shaykhun inthe Idlib province, were used twice inSheikh Maqsood, a neighborhood inAleppo. Several jihadist groups, including Jaysh al-Islam and Daesh, have these armaments intheir arsenal," he said.


Jaysh al-Islam is a group that is trying tooverthrow Bashar al-Assad and establish a caliphate inSyria. The organization has coordinated its activities withJabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known asal-Nusra Front. Russia, Syria, Iran and Egypt have added the group tothe list ofterrorist organizations. Moscow has made every effort toconvince the UN Security Council todesignate Jaysh al-Islam asterrorists, butthe United States, the United Kingdom, France and Ukraine pulled the plug onthis initiative.


Rezan Hiddo further suggested that the chemical attack inKhan Shaykhun was meant toruin the fragile nationwide ceasefire regime, brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran. He also recalled that Daesh used this particular toxic substance inan attack onthe US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) inthe settlements ofUmmu Ho? and Ummu Herbil located inthe Shehba area eight months ago.
"At that time, a team ofexperts fromRussia arrived atthe scene tocarry outan investigation. The probe showed that the chemical weapons were used byDaesh," he said.


The Pentagon has closely cooperated withthe SDF, who are Washington's primary ally onthe ground inSyria inits efforts totackle Daesh.


The attack inKhan Shaykhun took place onTuesday, withthe United States and its allies swiftly blaming President Bashar al-Assad forusing banned substances againstcivilians although no proof was provided tosupport these claims. Moreover, President Donald Trump authorized a massive airstrike onthe Shayrat air base located inthe Homs province, saying that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) used the facility toostensibly store chemical weapons and launch the attack inKhan Shaykhun.

Trump described what happened onApril 4 as "a horrible" chemical weapons attack oninnocent civilians. "Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked outthe lives ofhelpless men, women, and children. It was a slow and brutal death forso many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered inthis very barbaric attack," he said.

US Secretary ofState described the attack inKhan Shaykhun asa "heinous act" committed byBashar al-Assad, while US Ambassador tothe UN Nikki Haley said that Damascus "murdered innocent men, women and children inthe most gruesome way."

Syrian leadership and the SAA command denied these allegations. High-ranking Russian officials and diplomats have pointed outthat Damascus could not have used chemical weapons sinceit destroyed its entire stockpile ofthese armaments followinga deal brokered byMoscow and Washington in2013. The Organization forthe Prohibition ofChemical Weapons (OPCW) supervised this process, receiving the Nobel peace Prize forits efforts.

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