Russian Defense Ministry: Syrian aviation did not attack Khan Shaykhun with chemical weapon

05.04.2017, Syria.

Western mass media reports of a chemical attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib province by Russian or Syrian jets do not reflect reality, the official spokesman of Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov stated on April 5th as Interfax News Agency informs.

In fact, on April 4th, Syrian government aviation struck a depot of the militants, where chemical munitions had been stored.

“According to the data from the airspace control system, yesterday, from 11.30 AM to 12.30 PM (local time), Syrian aviation struck a large depot and military hardware in the area of the eastern suburb of Khan Shaykhun. The workshops producing high explosive bombs with chemical weapons agents were located on the grounds of this depot. Chemical munitions were transported from this largest munition depot to the territory of Iraq. Both international organizations and the official authorities of this country repeatedly confirmed their [chemical munitions] usage by the terrorists,” stated in the report of Konashenko.

He also added that the Russian military experts had reported that the terrorists had attacked Aleppo with this kind of munitions late last year. The consequences of these attacks match the symptoms observed in Khan Shaykhun completely. The use chemical weapons in Aleppo was reported, soil samples were collected, and all of these was sent to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). However, the OPCW has not responded so far.

On April 4th, Western mass media reported on a chemical attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib governorate by the jets belonging to Russia or the Syrian government. There was information that 58 people including 11 children were killed.

Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

The picture is by Faswad at the English language Wikipedia, license CC BY SA 3.0.

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