Pentagon: White Helmets Carry Out Strictly Humanitarian Mission in Syria

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States maintains that the non-governmental organization White Helmets continues to save many lives in Syria, a US Department of Defense official told Sputnik.

"The White Helmets are a humanitarian organization that has saved thousands of lives and continues to respond to bombardments by Russian and [Syrian] regime military forces," the official said on Wednesday.

The United States and the international community continue to support their work, the US defense official added.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the White Helmets, however, together with terrorists, have chosen 22 families with children as well as orphans kidnapped from refugee camps to be in the receiving end of a staged chemical weapons attack, the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation reported.

Terrorists from a group calling itself Tanzim Ḥurras ad-Din (The Guardians of Religion Organization) are engaged in the direct preparation of sites for the detonation of containers loaded with poisonous substances during the shooting of a video about 'chemical attacks', the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation explained.

READ MORE: Russian MoD: White Helmets Preparing to Stage Chemical Attack in Idlib

The White Helmets and Nusra Front terrorists have approved videos of two scenes, which will be transferred to the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons; the rest will be distributed in the social networks, the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation also said.