SYRIANS DEFIANT STRIKES BATTER

AFEW hours before sunrise, loud explosions had 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.

Associated Press reporters saw smoke 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 air strikes began.

Immediately after the attack, hundreds of residents began gathering in the landmark Omayyad 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, politicians and other figures.

“Good morning steadfastness,” one broadcaster said.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday night that the three allies had launched military strikes to punish Assad for alleged chemical weapons use and to prevent him from doing it again.

Mr Trump said Washington is prepared to “sustain” pressure on Assad until he ends what the president called a criminal pattern of killing his own people with internationally banned chemical weapons.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied any use of banned weapons.

A fact-finding team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog was in Damascus and had been expected to head to the town of Douma yesterday, scene of the suspected chemical weapons attack that killed more than 40 people.

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 said 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 local time (0100 GMT), with missiles hitting the eastern suburbs of Damas- cus, shaking the ground from a distance.

The sky looked orange over eastern Damascus, apparently as a result of fires caused by the missiles hitting Syria.

Air defence units fired surfaceto-air missiles from different directions toward incoming missiles.

Around 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” drove through central Damascus amid the attack.

Syrian TV called the attacks a “blatant violation of international law and shows contempt for international legitimacy”.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said there were no reports of American losses during the initial air strikes.

“Right now this is a one-time shot,” he said, but did not rule out further attacks. He said the air strikes were launched against several sites that helped provide Assad’s ability to create chemical weapons.

The decision to strike, after days of deliberations, marked Mr 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 US president chastised Syria’s two main allies, Russia and Iran, for their roles in supporting “murderous dictators”, and noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed a 2013 international agreement for Assad to get rid of all of his chemical weapons.

He called on Moscow to change course and join the West in seeking a more responsible regime in Damascus.

Russia’s US embassy released a statement warning that the air strikes will “not be left without con-