US, France and Britain launch strikes on Syria
Civilians and soldiers gather at Damascus’ landmark squares in defiance
WASHINGTON: US, British and French forces struck Syria with more than 100 missiles in the first coordinated Western strikes against the Damascus government, targeting what they called chemical weapons sites in retaliation for a 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”.
As he spoke, explosions rocked Damascus early yesterday.
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 multi-sided war which 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 coun- tries 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, with Damascus allies saying the buildings hit had been evacuated in advance.
British Prime Minister Theresa May described the strike as “limited and targeted”.
She said she had authorised British action after intelligence indicated Assad’s government was to blame for gassing the Damascus suburb of Douma a week ago.
In a speech, she gave a vivid description of the victims of the chemical strike that killed scores, huddling in basements as gas rained down.
She said Russia had thwarted diplomatic efforts to halt Assad’s use of poison gas, leaving no option but force.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the strikes had been limited so far to Syria’s chemical weapons facilities.
The United States, Britain and France have all bombed Islamic State fighters in Syria for years and had troops on the ground to fight them, but refrained from targeting Assad’s government apart from a volley of US missiles last year. — Reuters
DAMASCUS: Hundreds of Syrians gathered at landmark squares in the Syrian capital, honking their car horns, flashing victory signs and waving Syrian flags in scenes of defiance that followed unprecedented joint airstrikes by the United States, France and Britain.
A few hours earlier, before sunrise, loud explosions jolted Damascus and the sky turned orange as Syrian air defence units fired surface-to-air missiles in response to three waves of military strikes meant to punish President Bashar Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons.
Smoke could be seen rising from east Damascus and what appeared to be a fire light up the sky. From a distance, US missiles hitting suburbs of the capital sounded like thunder. Shortly after the one-hour attack ended, vehicles with loudspeakers roamed the streets of Damascus blaring nationalist songs.
“Good souls will not be humiliated,” Syria’s presidency tweeted after the airstrikes began.
Immediately after the attack, hundreds of residents began gathering in the landmark Umayyad Square of the Syrian capital.
Many waved Syrian, Russian and Iranian flags. Some clapped their hands and danced, other drove in convoys, honking their horns in defiance.
“We are your men, Bashar,” they shouted. Syrian state TV broadcast live from the square where a large crowd of civilians mixed with men in uniforms, including an actor, lawmakers and other figures.
“Good morning steadfastness,” one broadcaster said.
Syrian TV said three civilians were wounded in one of the US-led strikes on a military base in Homs, although the attack was aborted by derailing the incoming missile.
It said another attack with “a number of missiles” targeting a scientific research centre destroyed a building and caused other material damage but no human losses.
The network says the building in the research centre included an educational centre and labs.
It said earlier that the attacks targeted a scientific research centre in Barzeh, near Damascus, and an army depot near Homs.
Syrian media reported that air defences had hit 13 incoming rockets south of Damascus.
The attack began at 4am with missiles hitting the eastern suburbs of Damascus, shaking the grounds from a distance. The sky looked orange over eastern Damascus apparently as a result of fires caused by the missiles hitting Syria.
At about sunrise, the sound of explosions could be heard just as the loudspeakers from the city’s mosques called for morning prayers.
A car with loudspeakers blaring the national song Oh Syria, You Are My Love could be heard driving through central Damascus amid the attack.
Syrian TV called the attacks a “blatant violation of international law and shows contempt for international legitimacy”.
The decision to strike, after days of deliberations, marked Trump’s second order to attack Syria; he authorised a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles to hit a single Syrian airfield in April 2017 in retaliation for Assad’s use of sarin gas against civilians.
The one-off missile strike in April 2017 targeted the airfield from which the Syrian aircraft had launched their gas attack.
But the damage was limited, and a defiant Assad returned to episodic use of chlorine and perhaps other chemicals. — AP