West Turns Blind Eye to Terrorism Using Militants to Overthrow Assad

According to thr Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, the West "has attempted to use terrorism and radical groups to overthrow the Bashar Assad regime."

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) – The West has attempted to close its eyes to terrorism in order to use radical groups to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Thursday.

“Unfortunately, it needs to be said that several years ago when we began speaking about the problem of terrorism, our Western partners tried to turn a blind eye for one single reason, which was that they attempted to use terrorism and radical groups to overthrow the Bashar Assad regime. This is obvious today,” Gatilov said. 

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups.

 

A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement came into force across Syria on February 27. The deal does not apply to terrorist groups such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front, both of which are outlawed in Russia and a range of other states.