"The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group, linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, which uses 'small and heavy arms, improvised explosive devices, and chemical weapons', operates in that province (Idlib). This is the first official recognition by the State Department not simply of the presence, but, I emphasize, the use of chemical weapons by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in that part of Syria to commit terrorist attacks, about which we repeatedly warned," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Konashenkov said.
According to Sputnik, Igor Konashenkov also recalled that in Idlib province, "only one case of the use of chemical weapons is known — in Khan-Sheikhun."
"However, the US accused government troops of conducting this chemical attack. And those who organized it, they called a "moderate opposition," Konashenkov said.
Igor Konashenkov stressed that "as for the alleged Russian Air Force bombing in the city of Idlib, the State Department here is mistaken and American citizens have nothing to fear. The Russian aircraft operating in Syria does not strike settlements, in contrast to the US and the coalition."
The war in Syria started in 2011. Four years later, in September 2015, Russia launched a military operation to assist the country's government, providing air support to Syrian forces in fighting ISIL and other terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, the US-led coalition conducts air strikes as well as ground and rocket artillery fire against Daesh in Syria, although this activity hasn't been sanctioned by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.