Syria: +20 Hospitalized with Poisoning Symptoms After Foreign-Backed Militants Launch Gas Attack

As Reported by Qods News Agency (Qodsna) Following shelling by militants in the Syrian province of Hama, 21 people have been delivered to the Al-Suqaylabiyah National Hospital with gas poisoning symptoms, Syrian TV reported.

State news agency SANA cited the head of the hospital as saying the attack took place in the village of al-Rasif in Hama’s Northern countryside and it published images and footage of people lying in hospital beds wearing oxygen masks.

 

US Announces More Support for ‘Heroic’ White Helmets in Syriahttps://t.co/opoRU8qhvhpic.twitter.com/XdF4JFCrNo

— Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) March 15, 2019

It comes just days after Russia warned that terrorists are establishing arms caches in several Syrian provinces to stage chemical weapons provocations.

"There are alarming reports, which say that members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terror group (also known as Jabhat al-Nusra), together with the White Helmets, are getting ready to stage chemical agent attacks, planning to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated in mid-March.

"Terrorists are establishing arms caches in the Aleppo, Idlib, Lattakia and Hama provinces," the Russian diplomat pointed out.

 

Russian Foreign Ministry Enjoys Evidence Proving White Helmets as Al-Nusra's Branchhttps://t.co/JzZOuC3E2p pic.twitter.com/rzXeVq56kJ

— Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) November 3, 2018

Damascus government has repeatedly accused the White Helmets of being part of various militant groups, while Moscow has accused the group of staging alleged chemical attacks in order to provide pretexts for Washington military intervention in Syria.

A number of NGOs, including the White Helmets, alleged that chemical weapons had been used in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, in early April 2018.

Moscow dismissed it as fake news, and representatives of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria visited the site, but did not find any signs of chemical weapons having being used.

A week later, the United States, the United Kingdom and France launched missile strikes on Syria’s military and civilian infrastructure facilities without the UN Security Council’s permission. The strikes targeted a

scientific and research center in Damascus, the Republican Guard’s headquarters, an air defense base, several airfields and army depots.

Washington, London and Paris claimed the strikes were a response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Douma, without providing any evidence.

Syria has been in a state of war since 2011, with government forces fighting numerous militant and terrorist organizations.