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News ID: 50675
Publish Date : 02 March 2018 - 22:30
Amid Imminent Rout of Terrorists Near Damascus:

France, U.S., UK Threaten Syria With Airstrikes




PARIS (Dispatches) -- France on Friday joined the U.S. and Britain in threatening airstrikes on Damascus in the event of further chemical weapons use in Syria.
Their threats came as terrorist groups continued shelling a safe corridor declared by the Syrian government for civilians to leave Eastern Ghouta on Damascus suburbs.
Takfiri terrorists have turned the enclave to a launch pad for mortar attacks on the Syrian capital, which have targeted residential neighborhoods and killed many civilians.
The Syrian army is currently in the midst of an operation to drive the terrorists out of Eastern Ghouta, but it is facing a hostile West threatening attacks on Syrian troops under the pretext that civilians were being killed in the enclave.
Western leaders were quick to point the finger at the Syrian government after reports of chlorine release in Eastern Ghouta last week.   
For years, foreign-backed militants have appeared to release chemical substances in the areas close to the site of government airstrikes and capture the aftermath on videos.
A Syrian military source told SANA news agency on Thursday that terrorists based in Eastern Ghouta have been instructed by the U.S., Britain and other Western states to use chemical arms there and blame it on the Damascus government.
Citing confidential information, the source said Nusra Front, Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham terrorists are preparing for another "spectacle on the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Arab Army”.
Under instructions from the Western countries, the terrorists would deploy the chemicals "near the front lines with the Syrian army and target civilians and accuse the Syrian State and army of this act”, the source added.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump vowed there would be "no impunity" in the event of further chemical weapons use in Syria in a telephone call Friday.
Macron "stressed there will be a firm response in the case of proven use of chemical weapons leading to the death of civilians, in close coordination with our American allies," a statement from the French presidency said.
"France and the United States will not tolerate impunity," the statement said, adding the leaders also urged Russia to put "maximum pressure" on Damascus to commit to a UN ceasefire across Syria.
Syria and Russia have already declared a unilateral ceasefire across Syria, but that does not include areas held by Daesh, Al-Qaeda and Nusra Front along with "individuals, groups, undertakings and entities" associated with the terrorist groups.  
France has repeatedly warned that evidence of further use of chemical weapons in Syria is a "red line" that would prompt French strikes.
Washington has asked the UN Security Council to set up a new inquiry on chemical weapons attacks, for which the Syrian government has repeatedly denied responsibility.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday was set to hold an emergency session on Eastern Ghouta at the request of Britain.
However, they are generally silent on daily mortar attacks on Damascus, which take the lives of civilians.
On Friday, Syria’s official SANA news agency said the terrorists in the Damascus suburb targeted the humanitarian corridor out of Eastern Ghouta with three shells to prevent civilians from fleeing the militant-held area.
The latest attacks came shortly after a fourth humanitarian pause in the fighting took effect in Eastern Ghouta.
Meanwhile, an activist group posted video footage online, depicting how the country’s capital has been "living a nightmare” for years at the hands of the terrorists targeting it from Eastern Ghouta.
The video by The Truth about Syria purportedly featured a compilation of recordings captured during the near-daily mortar barrages and their aftermaths, as well as pictures of some of the children, who were killed during the raids.
Terrorist groups in the enclave launched 340 mortar shells on the capital, killing 19 civilians, including three children, and wounding 172 others, over seven days towards the end of February, the description read.