DAMASCUS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the recent claims by the rebels of chemical weapons use in battles in Latakia province are a prelude to a renewed cycle of lies and threats against the Syrian government, according to the state news agency SANA.
The ministry's statement comes in light of recent claims by the rebels that the Syrian army had used chemical weapons in attacks in the town of Kabani in the countryside of Latakia in northwestern Syria.
The Syrian government denied the claims, saying the rebels are trying to lift their faltering morals.
The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that the Syrian government might be renewing its use of chemical weapons, referring to the alleged chlorine attack on the rebel-held town in Latakia.
It said that any use of such weapons would lead the United States and its allies to "respond quickly and appropriately."
In its recent statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that "all this commotion will not dissuade the Syrian Army from continuing to fight terrorism."
It said the rebels are circulating false news about the chemical weapons use by the Syrian army, noting that such "false news" aims to pave the way for a new round of threats by Western countries against the Syrian government and Syrian army.
Such claims, the ministry continued, are attempts to lift the pressure on the rebels in northern Syria.
It is worth noting that the United States and its Western allies struck Syria in April 2018 over similar allegations by the rebels in the formerly rebel-held Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus.
The new development comes in light of the recent escalating military showdown between the rebels and the Syrian army in an area combining the countryside of Hama province, with Idlib and Latakia provinces in northwestern Syria.
The Syrian army made strides in the battles, which flared in the aforementioned areas late last month.
