Russia blames US for Daesh’s capture of Palmyra

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed the United States for the recapture of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra at the hands of Daesh, AP reported yesterday.

“The US does not want to cooperate,” Peskov said, noting that “cooperation would have probably allowed us to more effectively avoid such attacks from terrorists.”

Daesh recaptured the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, yesterday after it was pushed out by the regime and Russian forces in March this year.

According to Peskov, Daesh fighters have recently fled the Iraqi city of Mosul and therefore they could form new relatively large groups in Syria.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported what it said was a likely Sarin gas attack yesterday in a civilian area under Daesh control near Palmyra, causing at least 34 deaths. The Observatory said that the attack was carried out from the air.

Daesh’s news agency Amaq reported 20 people killed and 200 others suffered inhalation difficulties due to Russian or Assad regime sarin gas airstrike.

Russia and Syria denied that their armies used chemical weapons, while a UN report previously found that the Syrian regime had used chlorine in attacks against Daesh and opposition forces, as well as killing thousands of civilians using chemical weapons.