U.S. allies strike attacks in Syria
- by
- in Medical
- — Apr 15, 2018
Trump ordered the launch of air strikes on Syria in retaliation to the alleged chemical attacks by President Bashar al-Assad.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced US President Donald Trump, France's Emmanuel Macron, and Britain's Theresa May after they launched strikes Saturday against the Syrian regime, branding them "criminals".
The attacks were centered on three targets: a research facility and a warehouse near Damascus, and a chemical weapons storage facility near Homs.
He says the Russian air defense assets in Syria monitored the strike but didn't engage any of the missiles.
"A perfectly executed strike last night".
It said three civilians were wounded in the Homs attacks but did not give a toll for Damascus or mention any combatant casualties.
Later state TV broadcasts also show the fragments of an apparent British missile as well as debris from the attack.
The strikes appeared to have taken place far from Russia's bases near the Syrian coast.
It was evident early on that Trump was intent on taking action to punish the Syrian regime for its actions.
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The assault was twice the size and hit two more targets than a strike Trump ordered a year ago against a Syrian military airfield.
Congressman Vern Buchanan said that the strike against Syria by the US, British and French forces was a measured response to Assad's use of internationally banned chemical weapons. "This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very bad regime", he added.
Douma and the sprawling eastern Ghouta region near the capital, Damascus, had been under rebel control since 2012 and was a thorn in the side of President Bashar Assad's government for years.
How successful was the mission?
US Defence Secretary James Mattis said the air strikes were a "one time shot" to send a strong message to Assad. "Without the authorization of the United Nations Security Council, in defiance of the UN Charter, norms and principles and worldwide law, an act of aggression has been committed against a sovereign state, which is at the forefront of the war on terror", the Kremlin press service quotes Putin as saying. "We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences", Anatoly Antonov, ambassador to the United States, said in a statement.
Senator Marco Rubio applauded the strikes for preventing hostile regimes like Syria's Assad regime from using chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
However, Senator Cory Booker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he is deeply concerned that Trump continues to conduct military operations without any comprehensive strategy or the necessary congressional authorization.
A policeman moves a protester who was blocking traffic along Whitehall near Downing Street in London, Friday, as she take part in a small demonstration organized against possible military intervention or bombing by western allies in Syria.
