WEST POUNDS SYRIA
US, UK, France strikes hit chemical research centres around Damascus Russia warns of consequences
Washington/Beirut,
April 14: U.S., British and French forces struck Syria with more than 100 missiles on Saturday in the first coordinated Western strikes against the Damascus government, targeting what they said were chemical weapons sites in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack.
US President Donald Trump announced the military action from the White House, saying the three allies had “marshalled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality”. Later he tweeted, “Mission accomplished”.
The bombing represents a major escalation in the West’s confrontation with Assad’s superpower ally Russia, but is unlikely to alter the course of a multisided war that has killed at least half a million people in the past seven years.
That in turn raises the question of where Western countries go from here, after a volley of strikes denounced by Damascus and Moscow as at once both reckless and pointless.
By morning, the Western countries said their bombing was over for now. Syria released video of the wreckage of a bombed-out research lab, but also of President Bashar al-Assad arriving at work as usual, with the caption “Morning of resilience”.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Damascus’s allies saying the buildings hit had been evacuated in advance.
Russia warned of “consequences” following the strikes. “Again, we are being threatened,” Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said in a statement.
“We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences. All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris.”
A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the UK for the power of their fine military. Could not have had a better result. Mission accomplished DONALD TRUMP, US President
Damascus, April 14: The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of pre-dawn strikes against Syria’s regime on Saturday in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, lighting up the sky of Damascus as explosions shook the city.
Branding last week’s alleged gas attack the “crimes of a monster”, US President Donald Trump announced the action against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in a White House address, defying fierce warnings from Damascus ally Russia.
A few minutes later, an AFP correspondent in Damascus heard a series of huge blasts and residents rushed to their balconies. For around 45 minutes, explosions echoed and the sound of warplanes roared over the city, as flashes flared in the distance.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis called the strikes a “one-time shot” with no additional military action planned for now. Mr Trump said the strikes were a direct response to an alleged April 7 chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma that rescuers and monitors say killed more than 40 people. — AFP