Syria condemns US financial support to 'White Helmets'

Damascus   :  The Syrian Foreign Ministry has condemned the recent US decision to render financial support to the Syrian Civil Defence group, or "White Helmets," listed by the Syrian government as a terror group.

In a statement released by SANA news agency, the ministry said on Sunday the additional financial support by the US to the White Helmets is a flagrant evidence of the support of US-led Western countries to terrorism in Syria since 2011, Xinhua reported.

The ministry accused the US and its Western allies of using the White Helmets to practice terrorism, particularly in the alleged chemical attacks that were staged to tarnish the image of the Syrian government and prolong the Syrian war.

It said the White Helmets are part of the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

The condemnation came just days after the US administration has reportedly agreed to provide fund of $6.6 million for the White Helmets, the so-called "rescue group" by Western powers in certain rebel-held areas of Syria.

The Syrian government has for long blamed the White Helmets for allying with the Nusra Front, citing evidence of the organisation's attempts to falsify facts and to put on a fake humanitarian face to support the ultra-radical rebel groups in Syria.