Regime responds to UN through unsupported claims in State media

LATEST

Facing a UN report confirming its guilt over an April sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun in northwest Syria, the Assad regime has declared that “terrorists” have depots with “toxic materials” in the area.

State news agency SANA announced on Sunday that the “Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization possess [sic] depots and hideouts which contain toxic weapons in a number of villages and towns, particularly in Ma’arat Misrin , 9 km north of Idleb city”.

The site provided no evidence but claimed “local sources” had provided the information, including that the terrorists are manufacturing rockets to carry the toxic weapons. SANA also falsely claimed, recycling Russian propaganda, that “the US Department of State admitted that Ahrar al-Sham terrorist organization possesses chemical weapons in Idleb”.

Russian State outlet Sputnik is mirroring the article.

On Thursday the UN and Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons issued a report concluding that the Assad regime had carried out a sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province, killing at least 92 people and wounding hundreds. The report — based on satellite imagery, samples, munition fragments, testing of victims, and witnesses — found no support for a series of conflicting Russian and Assad regime arguments that denied the attack or tried to blame it on rebels.

See How UN Concluded Assad Regime Carried Out Sarin Attack on Khan Sheikhoun
Syria Daily, Oct 27: UN — Assad Regime Carried Out Deadly Sarin Attack in April

One of the false Russian-regime assertions was that a regime warplane had bombed a terrorist warehouse filled with chemical stocks. The UN-OPCW report concluded that no such warehouse existed and that it was a medical center, treating victims of the sarin attack, which was struck.

Continuing to pursue the line on Sunday SANA declared, “The sources warned against using toxic materials by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists against the civilians in an attempt to accuse the Syrian Arab Army.”

Regime: Criminals Occupy Raqqa, We Will Liberate It

The Assad regime has proclaimed that Raqqa city, fully taken from the Islamic State by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in early October, is occupied by criminals and will be liberated by pro-Assad forces.

The regime’s Foreign Ministry said the US-led coalition, which supports the SDF, is lying about its own “liberation” of Raqqa so it can cover up “crimes” in the capture. The Ministry claimed more than 90% the city in northern Syria has been destroyed by bombardment, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee, and it accused the SDF — without evidence — of stealing humanitarian aid and torturing residents.

The Ministry official said “Syria still considers Raqqa to be an occupied city, and it can only be considered liberated when the Syrian Arab Army enters it”.

Raqqa, the central position of ISIS in Syria since late 2013, was taken after a four-month offensive by the SDF. Hundreds of civilians were killed in the fighting, many of them slain by US airstrikes and shelling.

Video: Shelling Near School in Damascus Suburb — Claims of 11 Killed

Claimed footage of regime shelling on Sunday in the Damascus suburb of Kafr Batna, near a school.

Pro-opposition activists said up to 11 people were killed, including two women and one child.

Rescuers move children to safety:

Essential Reading: The Dire Situation Inside Rukban Displaced Persons Camp

Yasser Allawi of Syria Deeply writes about the Rukban camp for displaced people inside Syria near the closed Jordan border, where at least 50,000 endure “water pollution, high temperatures, unsafe human waste disposal, and garbage accumulation [that has] led to major health issues such as diarrhea, fever, bronchitis, bowel inflammation, skin allergies and urinary infections”:

“Tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) stranded in an informal desert camp between Jordan and Syria have been cut off from aid for months. So far, there are no indications that assistance is on the way.

Humanitarian organizations and the United Nations have had only limited access to the Rukban camp in the berm between Jordan and Syria since its formation. Last year, however, the deteriorating security situation near the border between the two states completely cut off their access, leaving residents almost wholly dependent on sporadic cross-border deliveries from Jordan. These too have now stopped.

According to UNHCR, the last partial aid delivery took place between May and June but reached only 35,000 of the camp’s estimated population of 50,000. The situation has since grown more dire, as hundreds fled to the settlement from fighting in the nearby province of Deir Ezzor. UN satellite images from September showed 6.6% more shelters than in June.

UNHCR told Syria Deeply that UN agencies are ready to resume cross-border operations immediately, but could not comment on whether this would be possible from Jordan in the coming period. Jordan recently stipulated that aid distributions to Rukban camp go through Syria rather than across its frontier.

Speaking to ambassadors of E.U. states earlier this month, Jordan’s foreign minister said the camp ‘will never be a Jordanian responsibility’, adding that improved conditions in the area would allow Damascus to channel assistance through Syrian territory. The camp is located inside the established de-confliction area around a U.S. garrison in the town of Tanf.

The Syrian government, for its part, has not signaled any intent to provide aid. Russia recently accused the US of using Rukban’s residents as ‘human shields’ to protect its military base in Tanf. Russia’s defense ministry also described the area as a ‘black hole generating waves of Islamist insurgency’.”