BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:03 P.M.) – Three trucks loaded with chlorine (often used for false-flag chemical weapons attacks by rebel groups) have entered into militant-held areas of Syria’s Idlib province, so reports a source linked to the Al-Alam new group.

The report from the Al-Alam correspondent says that the trucks from Turkey brought with them ‘several tons’ of chlorine.

Al-Masdar News cannot verify the claim.

In the past, rebel groups (including Al-Qaeda affiliate factions) have used chlorine gas to stage attacks against civilian targets which are then blamed on government forces in the hope of provoking a Western military response.

Moreover, militant groups have also been caught red-handed in the use of chlorine gas as a tactical weapon against government troops – the most recent example of this being in very late October 2016 during a second offensive by Turkish-backed insurgents to break the siege on east Aleppo.

As a weapon in the arsenal of rebel groups, chlorine gas is delivered via artillery shells.