MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/: Terrorists tried to explode several containers with toxic substances in northwestern Syria’s Saraqib, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria told reporters on Wednesday.
"In an effort to stop the Syrian government forces from entering western quarters of the Saraqib settlement and further slapping accusations over using chemical weapons on March 2, a group of up to 15 terrorists carried out an attempt to set off high-explosive ammunition with containers filled with toxic chemical substances," the statement said.
However, due to the lack of experience and skills of dealing with chemical substances, the militants broke the seal what resulted in a leak. "During the incident, the terrorists were severely poisoned by chemicals and failed to explode munitions and carry out their provocation," the Russian military said.
According to the reconciliation center, "hard evidence of the failed chemical weapons provocation" was obtained on March 3 when the Syrian army retaliated against terrorists of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (the new title of the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group) in the east of the Idlib de-escalation zone.
The Russian Reconciliation Center of the Opposing Sides in Syria has overwhelming evidence about this incident, which will be made public soon, its representatives stressed.
Earlier, the center reported that Russian military police units had been deployed to Saraqib, which conducted the first patrolling mission on March 3.
