Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Jihadists accused of planning staged chemical attack in Idlib
Syrian refugees walk through a camp near the village of Kafr Aruq, in Idlib province, Syria

JIHADIST group Jabhat al-Nusra is making plans to stage a “false flag” chemical attack in the city of Idlib in northern Syria, the Russian Defence Ministry said today.

Admiral Alexander Karpov, deputy head of the Russian Coordination Centre, said that the Islamists planned to blame the Syrian Arab Army for the attack.

“There has been information that Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists are getting ready to stage a new provocation in the de-escalation zone in Idlib, which includes staging a false flag chemical attack,” he said in a press statement.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa pose for a photo during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, January 28, 2026
Middle East / 29 January 2026
29 January 2026
ETHNIC STRIFE: Women condemn, yesterday, a video in circulation that allegedly shows a fighter affiliated with the Syrian government holding the braid of a Kurdish female fighter after killing her, in Qamishli, northeastern Syria
Middle East / 23 January 2026
23 January 2026

VIJAY PRASHAD details how US support for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa allowed him to break the resistance of the autonomous Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)

People cross the damaged Al-Rashid Bridge on foot, destroyed by retreating Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops, a day after Syrian government troops took control of the area on the outskirts of Raqqa, northeastern Syria, January 19, 2026
Syria / 21 January 2026
21 January 2026
Druze militiamen ride a motorcycle past the site of an alleged Israeli army strike last week on the main road outside Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025
Features / 29 July 2025
29 July 2025

VIJAY PRASHAD looks at the web of militias and drug-trafficking gangs that emerged in the Sweida region through the Syrian civil war, and how they relate to recent clashes and Israel’s intervention