Strike on Syria
U.S. targets air base with missiles in response to chemical attacks
BEIRUT — The United States has attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad.
U.S. officials say the Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria.
U.S. officials say Syrian government aircraft killed dozens of civilians by using chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin, earlier this week.
The bombing represents President Donald Trump’s most dramatic military order since taking office. The Obama administration threatened attacking Assad’s forces for previous chemical weapons attacks, but never followed through.
President Bashar Assad’s government came under mounting international pressure Thursday after a chemical attack in northern Syria, with even key ally Russia saying its support is not unconditional.
Turkey, meanwhile, said samples from victims of Tuesday’s attack, which killed more than 80 people in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, indicate they were exposed to sarin, a highly toxic nerve agent.
Syria rejected the accusations, and Moscow warned against apportioning blame until an investigation has been carried out.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with The Associated Press that “unconditional support is not possible in this current world.”
But he added that “it is not correct to say that Moscow can convince Mr. Assad to do whatever is wanted in Moscow. This is totally wrong.”
Russia has provided military support for the Syrian government since September 2015, turning the balance of power in Assad’s favour. Moscow has used its veto power at the Security Council on several occasions since the civil war began six years ago to prevent sanctions against Damascus.
The two countries “enjoy a relationship of co-operation, of exchange of views and full mutual support,” said Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin. Assad and his army are “the only real power in Syria that can resist terrorists on the ground,” he said.
Syria maintains it didn’t use chemical weapons, blaming opposition fighters for stockpiling the chemicals. Russia’s Defence Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory on the eastern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun.
“I stress, once again, that the Syrian Arab Army did not and will not use such weapons even against the terrorists who are targeting our people,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told reporters in Damascus.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the attack crossed “many, many lines,” and put the blame squarely on Assad’s forces. Speaking Thursday on Air Force One, Trump would not discuss what the U.S. might do in response but hinted at military action. He said the attack “shouldn’t have happened, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
Asked if Assad should remain in power, he said that “he’s there and I guess he’s running things so something should happen.”
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Assad should no longer have a role in governing the Syrian people.
On Wednesday, his U.N. envoy Nikki Haley strongly hinted some U.S. action was coming if the Security Council doesn’t act.
At the U.N., the U.S., which currently holds the presidency of the Security Council, drafted a resolution along with Britain and France that condemns the use of chemical weapons, “in the strongest terms.”