HTS terrorists plotting chemical attacks on Syria's Aleppo, Idlib as army makes gains: Report

Foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group in Syria are reportedly planning chemical attacks in northwestern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib amid advances by government forces.

Russia's RIA Novosti news agency, citing an informed source, said that HTS terrorists have transferred several cylinders containing toxic gases from a stronghold of the allied Salafist terrorist group Turkistan Islamic Party near Jisr al-Shughur city to southern Idlib countryside, and other areas in western Aleppo.

The Takfiri terrorists used ambulances and medical vehicles belonging to the so-called civil defense group White Helmets to carry out the action, the source added.

The White Helmets group, which claims to be a humanitarian NGO, is known for its coordination with terror outfits in Syria to carry out staged chemical attacks in order to falsely incriminate Syrian government forces and fabricate pretexts for military strikes by a US-led military coalition present in Syria since 2014.

Syria surrendered its stockpile of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the United States and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry. It has also consistently denied using chemical weapons.

Back in April 2018, the US, Britain and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack on the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus.

Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, an allegation roundly rejected by the Syrian government.

Resistance fighters arrive in Hama to back Syrian army

Meanwhile, hundreds of Iraqi resistance fighters crossed into Syria on Monday to help government troops fight Takfiri terrorists.

Iraqi and Syrian sources confirmed the deployment of more fighters to Syria. At least 300 fighters, primarily from Iraq's Badr and Nujabaa groups, entered Syrian territories through a military route, two Iraqi security sources said.

A senior Syrian military source said the fighters had crossed in small groups to avoid US airstrikes. “These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north,” the source said.

Syria retakes key northern highway, surroundings; kills dozens more terrorists

The Syrian military retakes a key highway near the northern city of Hama as well as all the towns and villages surrounding it, besides killing dozens more Takfiri terrorists.

A source from Iraqi resistance groups told Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television news channel that reinforcements had reached frontlines north and east of Hama, extending to the southern flanks of Aleppo.

The source noted that reinforcements, both in terms of equipment and personnel, will be arriving gradually to support Syrian army soldiers in countering the terrorist onslaught currently being waged against the Arab nation.

This comes as the supply lines of militants are “dramatically collapsing” in the countryside of Aleppo and Hama.

A Syrian army counteroffensive on the road linking the town of Khanasir, in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, to Ithriyah town in the northern outskirts of Hama, is achieving great success. 

The towns, nearly 50 kilometers apart, link the two provinces, and the purge of terrorists in the area will allow for a deeper advance of Syrian government forces and their allies into the southern countryside of Aleppo. 

Early on Tuesday, Syrian army soldiers began their advance into the city of al-Safira in Aleppo Province.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011. Damascus has slammed Western states and their regional allies for aiding terrorist groups to wreak havoc in the Arab country.

Terror outfits are seeking to hinder the Syrian government’s efforts aimed at consolidating security and stability in the country, which frequently comes under the Israeli regime’s aggression.

Israel has been the principal supporter of terrorist groups that oppose the democratically-elected government of President Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.

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