Syrian activists in the north of the country have expressed doubts about the authenticity of a statement attributed to Jaysh Al-Fath that claims responsibility for the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara on Monday. They emphasised that the statement was “fake” and some activists pointed out that it “differs from official statements made by Jaysh Al-Fath”.

Jabhat Fath Al-Sham formerly known as Al-Nusra Front is considered to be the most prominent faction that is affiliated to the Jaysh Al-Fath coalition. The group said that the statement was not authentic, and the spokesman for Jabhat Fath Al-Sham Hossam Al-Shafei denied the group’s link to the statement and confirmed that the statement was “fake”. He wrote on twitter that “We deny the accusations that were made in the statement about Jabhat Fath Al-Sham and Jaysh Al-Fath being responsible for the operation”. He also wrote that “The assassination of the ambassador was a natural response by the people in the region to the massacres and bombardment of civilians in Aleppo and elsewhere that they see every day at the hands of the Russians”.

Syrian activists expressed doubts about the authenticity of the statement by saying that trusted sites that usually publish Jaysh Al-Fath’s statements did not do so and that makes it more likely that the statement is unauthentic.

Others also pointed out that Jaysh Al-Fath does not put Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham’s logo at the top of its statements and that the font used on the statement differed to the one that is usually used on official statements issued by the group.