The Southland Times

Russia rejects US chemical strike warning to Syria

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UNITED STATES: The US has issued a warning to Syria’s leadership against staging a chemical weapons attack, after Washington said it had detected what appeared to be active preparatio­ns at a Syrian airfield used for such an attack in April.

Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main internatio­nal backer, denounced the warning and dismissed White House assertions that a strike was being prepared as ‘‘unacceptab­le’’, raising the tension between Washington and Moscow over the Syrian civil war.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said yesterday the US had recently seen activity at Shayrat airfield, the same base targeted by a US missile strike on April 6.

Davis said the activity was from ‘‘the past day or two’’. He did not say how the US collected its intelligen­ce.

‘‘This involved specific aircraft in a specific hangar, both of which we know to be associated with chemical weapons use,’’ Davis said.

The White House said a day earlier it appeared that the Syrian government was preparing for another chemical weapons attack, and it warned Assad that he and his military would ‘‘pay a heavy price’’ if it went ahead.

The US strike on the Shayrat airfield followed the deaths of 87 people in what Washington said was a poison gas attack in rebelheld territory two days beforehand. Syria denied it carried out the attack.

The White House said the recent preparatio­ns in Syria were similar to actions before the April attack, but Russia has challenged the US intelligen­ce.

‘‘I am not aware of any infor- mation about a threat that chemical weapons can be used,’’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. ’’Certainly, we consider such threats to the legitimate leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic unacceptab­le.’’

Russian officials have privately described the war in Syria as the biggest source of tension between Moscow and Washington, and the April cruise missile strike ordered by US President Donald Trump raised the risk of confrontat­ion between them.

The Syrian military and foreign ministry did not immediatel­y comment on the White House statement, though a Syrian state-run TV station, al-Ikhbariya, said the White House’s allegation­s were fabricated.

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment on the intelligen­ce that prompted the statement, or on possible US plans if Syria carried out such an attack.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s military returned fire yesterday against members of the Kurdish YPG militia along the border near Syria’s northwest Afrin region, broadcaste­r Haberturk reported, citing military sources.

It was unclear whether there were any casualties.

The US is supporting the YPG in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, despite repeated protests from its Nato ally Turkey, which sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists and fears their advance will inflame a Kurdish insurgency at home.

Faced with turmoil across its southern border, Turkey last year sent troops into Syria to support Syrian rebels fighting both Isis and the Kurdish forces who control a large part of Syria’s northern border region. – AAP, Reuters

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