The US, UK and France launched strikes against targets at three sites in Syria early Saturday morning, the CNN reported.
The attack followed after a week of threats of retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in Damascus enclave of Douma.
“I ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapon capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” said the US President Trump late Friday.
The Syrian Armed Forces said that 110 missiles were fired on Syrian targets and that the country’s defence systems “intercepted most of the missiles, but some hit targets including the Research Centre in Barzeh.”
US Defence Secretary James Mattis was asked how the US could assure that the strikes will work to stop the Assad regime from using chemical weapons again, and he replied saying “nothing is certain.”
Read President Trump's announcement on strikes in Syria in response to the chemical weapons attack last weekend https://t.co/NVEpyioiAy pic.twitter.com/XX9vi6SnhU
— CNN International (@cnni) April 14, 2018
But this time, he added, the US used double the amount of weapons the military used in last year strike in Syria.
Asked if the US and its allies planned to continue military operations beyond this strike in Syria, Mattis replied it all depends on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov issued a statement on Facebook in response to the strikes on Syria, accusing the West of carrying out a “pre-designed scenario.” He said there would be “consequences” and the responsibility for them lies with Washington, London and Paris.
“Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible,” he added.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Joseph Dunford said the US “specifically identified” targets to “mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved.”
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that she “authorised British armed forces to conduct coordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter their use.”
French President also issued a statement following the strikes in Syria, saying that “the red line set by France in May 2017 has been crossed”.
“So, I ordered the French armed forces to intervene tonight as part of an international operation in coalition with the USA and the UK and directed against the clandestine chemical arsenal of the Syrian regime,” Macron said.
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