‘Staged Filming of Mock ‘Chemical Attacks’ Has Begun in Idlib’

As the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation reported, all the fake footage of “chemical attacks,” designed to facilitate the implication of Syrian government forces, is expected to be sent to different TV channels before the end of the day.

“According to the information received from inhabitants of Idlib province, militants are now filming a staged provocation in the city of Jisr al-Shugur, where “chemical weapons” are depicted as being used by the Syrian army against civilians. The film crews of several Middle Eastern TV channels arrived in Jisr al-Shugur in the morning, as well as the regional affiliate of one of the main American television news networks,” the Reconciliation Center said.

The Russian military added that the militants had brought two containers loaded with a chlorine-based toxic substance to Jisr al-Shughur to make the provocation seem “natural.”

“The plot envisages staged scenes showing ‘activists’ from the Civil Defense (“White Helmets”) ‘helping’ the residents of Jisr al-Shughur after the Syrian army allegedly used the so-called barrel bombs with poisonous substances,” the center said.

According to the center, all videos of provocations shot in Jisr al-Shughur will be handed to broadcasters by the end of the day after being released via social media.

The information follows Sunday’s Wall Street Journal report that the US Defense Department might be mulling the idea of striking Russian or Iranian military forces aiding the Syrian government if they were to launch an assault on Idlib. The report added that the United States would specifically decide whether to strike Russian air defense installations.