US, Britain Say Recent Syria Chemical Attack ‘Fabricated’

State Dept: Allegation meant to undermine confidence in Idlib ceasefire

In late November, over 100 civilians were wounded in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that this was because of a chemical weapons attack by an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, involving chlorine-filled artillery shells.

An unfortunate incident, to be sure. According to US and British officials, however, it didn’t happen, and the Syrian and Russian governments made up the whole thing to make the putative attacks, which again, were an al-Qaeda-linked faction known to have chemical weapons, look bad.

The State Department issued a statement claiming that they had secret, “credible” information that the attack was fake, and cited the fact that the Syrian government retained control over the area struck as evidence there could’ve been “tampering” with the samples.

Ironically, the State Department also demanded an “impartial, independent investigation” into the attack, something the US openly opposed during previous alleged chemical attacks they wanted to pin on the Syrian government.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.