Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denies alleged use of chlorine gas in Idlib

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has flatly denied reports that his government was behind an alleged chlorine gas attack in the northwestern Idlib province last month.

Assad in a wide-ranging interview with France 2 television network on Monday said “We didn’t use chlorine gas. We don’t need to use it. We have our regular armaments, and we could achieve our goals without it.”
While insisting that Damascus has never used chlorine gas in its battle against foreign-sponsored terrorists, he further pointed out that a Syrian chemical factory in north of the country near the Turkish border remains under the control of foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists and even international inspectors have not been allowed to visit the plant.
The Syrian president also refuted some media reports about the use of the so-called barrel bombs, asking the interviewer “What are barrel bombs?” He then reiterated that Syrian forces possess no such weapons and have never used banned armaments.
During the interview, President Assad further insisted that Washington was responsible for the creation of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group, adding that the notorious terror enterprise was established in Iraq back in 2006 when the country was in control of the US-led military forces.