RUSSIA claimed yesterday that the US had tacitly admitted it was wrong to blame Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack in April.

A US State Department travel warning to citizens planning to visit Syria issued on Wednesday cautioned that the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, now known as Hetesh, uses chemical weapons.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov pointed out yesterday that Hetesh, operates in Idlib, where “only one case of the use of chemical weapons is known — in Khan Sheikhoun.”

US President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile attack on Syria’s Sharat air base in response.

On Thursday, Hetesh received more support from neighbouring Israel when jets attacked Syrian troops on the verge of capturing the stronghold of Beit Jinn in Quneitra province.

An Israeli military spokesman tweeted that an unidentified projectile had landed in the occupied sectors of the Golan Heights, reiterating that Israel holds Syria responsible for any stray fire, regardless of its source.

And the Syrian army displayed a huge cache of weaponry captured from Isis in the recaptured town of al-Mayadeen — including some produced in Israel and Nato countries.