US ‘prepared to do more’ against Syria

America says it will take action to ‘stop the horrors’

The US has warned it is “prepared to do more” to stop the horrors taking place in Syria under Bashar Assad.

President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles on a Syrian air base in retaliation for the regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people.

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Washington was ready to go further.

She said: “It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution.”

Russia and Britain clashed at the tense round of UN talks in New York.

The UK’s ambassador said President Assad had been “put on notice” and claimed Moscow had been left humiliated by its failure to bring him to heel.

But Russia accused Britain of “colonial hypocrisy” and “lies” as it warned against military involvement in Syria.

Russia has consistently denied that Syrian forces used chemical weapons, claiming the incident at Khan Sheikhoun was caused by a hit on a rebel chemical weapons plant.

Russia accused the US of violating international law, but Mr Trump said the strike from US warships was in the “vital national security interest”, with the country’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov saying the Americans had used a “far-fetched pretext” to justify the attack, while the defence ministry in Moscow said it would be helping Syria strengthen its air defences.

The surprise barrage of 59 cruise missile sin the early hours of yesterday, UK time, was the first time the US has struck directly against the Syrian government.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov sought to play down the impact, claiming fewer than half the missiles reached the air base, destroying just six Syrian MiG-23 fighters and leaving the runway intact.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.”

Pictures: PA. Left: USS Porter fires a Tomahawk missile from the Mediterranean. Britain has backed the US strike on a Syrian air base ordered by President Trump, top.

The Americans have accused the Syrian regime, led by President Bashar Assad, above, of using chemical weapons in an attack on the rebelheld town of Khan Sheikhoun that left at least 72 people dead.