Moscow, Aug 26 (IANS): The US and its allies are planning to carry out new missile strikes on Syria on the pretext of a provocation that the Syrian government is behind a "chemical attack," the Russian Defence Ministry has said.

However, the planned "chemical attack" by Syrian government forces in Syria's Idlib province is actually staged by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham terrorist group, previously known as "Jabhat al-Nusra" with the help of British personnel, the ministry's spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said, citing information confirmed by several independent sources, Xinhua reported.

Eight tanks of chlorine and a special group of militants, who were trained in handling poisonous substances under the supervision of a British private military company, have been brought to Idlib for the chemical attack, Konashenkov said.

"The execution of this provocation with the active participation of the British special services is set to serve as another pretext for the US, UK and France to inflict missile and air strikes on Syria's state and economic facilities," Konashenkov said on Saturday.

To this end, a Sullivans destroyer of the US Navy with 56 cruise missiles on board arrived in the Persian Gulf a few days ago, and a B-1B strategic bomber of the US Air Force armed with 24 air-to-surface cruise missiles was re-deployed to the Al Udeid air base in Qatar, according to the spokesman.

The spokesman said that the actions of Western countries are "aimed at another drastic aggravation of the situation in the Middle East region and the disruption of the peace process on the territory of Syria".

On April 4, 2017, a reported toxic gas attack hit the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib, killing over 80 people and wounding scores of others.

Two days later, the US launched 59 cruise missiles against the Shayrat military base in central Syria, where Washington believes airplanes carrying chemical weapons took off.

The US and many Western countries blamed the Assad government for the chemical attacks but Syria and Russia insisted that it's a plot by the West in a bid to overturn the Assad administration.