Russia says Syria gas attack reports 'fabricated'
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday reports of a gas attack in Syria were bogus and any military action taken based on such "invented and fabricated excuses" could lead to severe consequences.
"The spread of bogus stories about the use of chlorine and other poisonous substances by (Syrian) government forces continues. Yet another such fabricated piece of information about an alleged chemical attack in Douma appeared yesterday," the ministry said in a statement.
"We have warned several times recently against such dangerous provocations. The aim of such deceitful speculation, lacking any kind of grounding, is to shield terrorists ... and to attempt to justify possible external uses of force."
(Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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RUSSIA has warned that any foreign military strike against Syria may lead to the “gravest of consequences” after a suspected chemical attack killed dozens of people outside Damascus and President Trump warned there would be a "big price to pay".
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Trump has blasted Russia and Assad after the suspected chemical attackFollowing the chemical attack outside Damascus in Syria, the US has demanded an immediate international response while Moscow has warned against any military strike.
Syrian opposition activists said on Sunday that the attack had killed at least 49 people.
They said that Syrian military helicopters dropped barrel bombs filled with chemicals over the weekend, suffocating and killing dozens of people.
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President Trump said there would be a “big price to pay” for the chemical attack that killed dozens of people by poison gas and he slammed the Russian President Vladimir Putin for supporting the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On Twitter, he wrote: “President Putin, Russia and Iran and responsible for backing Animal Assad, Big price to pay.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry warned against any military action due to “fabricated excuses”.
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They issued a statement saying: “It is necessary to once again caution that military intervention under false and fabricated pretexts in Syria, where the Russian servicemen stay at the request of the legitimate government, is absolutely unacceptable and may trigger the gravest consequences."
Rescue workers have reported that dozens of people have died in a chemical assault in a rebel stronghold area.
According to the White Helmets, which is a civil defence group, more than 40 people suffocated to death due to exposure to an unknown chemical agent.
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Trump has criticised Putin for supporting Assad in SyriaThe Syrian National Coalition have said that fatalities could exceed 100 people.
The US state department said: “Reports from a number of contacts and medical personnel on the ground indicate a potentially high number of casualties, including among families hiding in shelters.
“These reports, if confirmed, are horrifying and demand and immediate response by the international community.”
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Syrian Army soldiers gathering in an area on the eastern outskirts of DoumaThe EU has also called for an international response claiming that the evidence points to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces against a besieged rebel-held town in Syria.
The EU demanded the UN Security Council re-establishes its checks to identify the perpetrates of chemical attacks.
The Syrian state denied government forces had launched any chemical attack in Douma.
Russian military threatens to take action against US over Syria
The US launched a missile strike on a Syrian air base last year in response to a gas attack in northwestern Syria.
Duma is located close to Damascus and is still in rebel hands.
Speaking after the attack, Pope Francis said: “Nothing, but nothing, can justify the use of such instruments of extermination on defenceless people and populations.”
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