DISINFO: Khan Shaikhun chemical attack staged by White Helmets together with Al-Qaeda
SUMMARY
The chemical attack in Khan Shaikhun in Syria was staged by the White Helmets together with Al-Qaeda.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about chemical attacks in Syria, aiming to discredit the White Helmets and claiming that the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack was staged by Western actors linked to terrorists in order to justify military action against the Assad regime.
It is not true that the White Helmets jointly with Al-Qaeda staged or organised or carried out in any way the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun. The UN-OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) Joint Investigative Mechanism found Syria’s regime responsible for this attack. The OPCW’s Fact Finding Mission confirmed that people in Khan Shaykhun were exposed to sarin, a chemical weapon, on 4 April 2017. In a report published on June 30 2017 the OPCW Director-General stated that:
“The OPCW Fact Finding Mission has confirmed the use of sarin, a nerve agent, during the 4 April incident in Khan Shaykhun in Syria”.
The Syrian Civil Defence (SCD), also known as the White Helmets, is a search-and-rescue organisation based in opposition-held areas. They have recorded some of the worst atrocities carried out in Syria and provided vital evidence of gross human rights abuses.
Allegations of "staged" chemical attacks are part and parcel of the ongoing campaign by Syria and Russia to discredit the White Helmets by portraying them as terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda and war criminals. The allegations linking the White Helmets to Al-Qaeda have never been supported by evidence and have been widely recognised as false, as can be read here or here.
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