DISINFO: ‘Foreign specialists’ may stage chemical attack in Syria to frame Assad
SUMMARY
“English-speaking specialists” have arrived in Syria and may stage a chemical attack using chlorine in “the next two days”, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The operation is planned to unfold in the village of Kafr Zita in Syria’s north-western Hama Province in “the next two days”. Groups of residents will be used to assist fake rescuers from the White Helmets.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory with no evidence given and disproved by events. This is a repeating recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about chemical weapons use in Syria: euvsdisinfo.eu/disinformation-cases/?text=stage+chemical&disinfo_issue=&date=, No such attack happened during the two days after the disinformation had been published.
For background: On 7 April 2018, a high number of civilians were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Douma, with evidence pointing towards another chemical attack by the regime, according to the EU. See also Bellingcat's open source survey on the suspected chemical attack: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2018/04/11/open-source-survey-alleged-chemical-attacks-douma-7th-april-2018/ www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2018/04/29/pieces-matter-syrias-chlorine-bombs-douma-chemical-attack/ On April 10 Russia vetoed a U.S.-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution that would have created a new inquiry to ascertain responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism found Syria’s Government responsible for last year’s attack in Khan Shaykhun. In September 2017, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic summarized 33 separate incidents where it had found use of chemical weapons. Since then there have been several additional suspected chemical attacks. Between March 2013 and March 2017, the Commission documented 25 incidents of chemical weapons use in the Syrian Arab Republic, of which 20 were proven to have been perpetrated by government forces and used primarily against civilians. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx
