‘Syria Fully Prepared for Possible U.S. Attack’
DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – A Syrian military official says the country’s air defense forces have been placed on full alert amid reports that foreign-sponsored terrorists were planning to stage a fake chemical attack in Idlib in order to give the U.S. a pretext for an airstrike against Syrian government forces.
Syria’s pro-government and Arabic-language al-Masdar news agency, citing an unnamed Mezzeh Military Airport, reported that troops stationed at the facility, which lies southwest of the old center of Damascus, had been ordered to prepare for a possible attack against the capital.
The report added that while the exact reason for this move remain unknown, it is believed to be linked to the potential threat of a U.S. strike on Damascus or its outskirts.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday it had noticed Washington was building up its military forces in the Middle East in preparation for what Moscow feared was a possible strike on Syrian government forces.
Major-General Igor Konashenkov was quoted by agencies as saying that the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, had entered the Mediterranean on Aug. 25 armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting any target in Syria.
He said the U.S. plans to use the "dramatization” of a chemical attack in the province of Idlib as the pretext for attacking the Syrian government.
The chemical attack staged by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, one of the biggest terrorist outfit in Syria, will provoke the bombing on Syrian targets, he said. The strike is being planned in conjunction with British "special services”, Konashenkov said.
Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad has underlined that government forces have never made use of chemical weapons in battles against foreign-backed terrorist groups.
"We have never used and will not use chemical weapons,” Haddad said in response to claims by anti-Syria opposition groups, including White Helmets, about chemical attacks carried out by the Syrian government forces against civilians.
"These allegations will get nowhere. They (opposition) have one pretext for everything — the use of chemical weapons. As soon as our army, thanks to the support of friendly countries, advances to liberate our lands, the West and the United States immediately want to intervene in order to attack Syria so as to weaken Syria and prolong the war,” Haddad commented.
Western governments and their allies have never stopped pointing the finger at Damascus whenever an apparent chemical attack takes place.
Syria surrendered its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the US and the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry.
S-125 Neva air defense system in Syria is seen in this file photo.
Syria’s pro-government and Arabic-language al-Masdar news agency, citing an unnamed Mezzeh Military Airport, reported that troops stationed at the facility, which lies southwest of the old center of Damascus, had been ordered to prepare for a possible attack against the capital.
The report added that while the exact reason for this move remain unknown, it is believed to be linked to the potential threat of a U.S. strike on Damascus or its outskirts.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday it had noticed Washington was building up its military forces in the Middle East in preparation for what Moscow feared was a possible strike on Syrian government forces.
Major-General Igor Konashenkov was quoted by agencies as saying that the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, had entered the Mediterranean on Aug. 25 armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting any target in Syria.
He said the U.S. plans to use the "dramatization” of a chemical attack in the province of Idlib as the pretext for attacking the Syrian government.
The chemical attack staged by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, one of the biggest terrorist outfit in Syria, will provoke the bombing on Syrian targets, he said. The strike is being planned in conjunction with British "special services”, Konashenkov said.
Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad has underlined that government forces have never made use of chemical weapons in battles against foreign-backed terrorist groups.
"We have never used and will not use chemical weapons,” Haddad said in response to claims by anti-Syria opposition groups, including White Helmets, about chemical attacks carried out by the Syrian government forces against civilians.
"These allegations will get nowhere. They (opposition) have one pretext for everything — the use of chemical weapons. As soon as our army, thanks to the support of friendly countries, advances to liberate our lands, the West and the United States immediately want to intervene in order to attack Syria so as to weaken Syria and prolong the war,” Haddad commented.
Western governments and their allies have never stopped pointing the finger at Damascus whenever an apparent chemical attack takes place.
Syria surrendered its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the US and the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry.
S-125 Neva air defense system in Syria is seen in this file photo.